Legacy of Lyoko
by s.joann.c
Summary: The gang is in their teens, but the problems don't stop. Romance, drama, XANA... this year will be full of surprises. This is the first series in a trilogy with the same name.
1. Part 1

**Part One: The Ups and Downs of Summer**

**Chapter One: Jeremie and Yumi**

Seasons had changed, as they always are changing and always will change. Things so transient come and go at the mercy of our divine ruler. And yet we have no control over things that aren't transient. Autumn always changed to winter, which always changed into the spring then summer. Beings grew taller, then wider- then broke down before succumbing to our merciless Earth. Mother Nature was a nurturer and a provider, but she still harvested Pain and Death and Suffering. But with Pain came Relief, with Death came Resurrection, and with Suffering came Realization. It was this Realization that we are nothing more than specks of universal star dust that made us not only human, but powerless against it.

It had been a long summer for the five teens. A new middle school was built not too far from where the old one was, so the younger students attended New Mertzon Junior High while the Kadic Junior High became simply Kadic High School. The teens were pleased with this arrangement, seeing as they had gone to Kadic since they were just ten years old.

High schoolers, especially at the teens' ages, did not have to stay under the constant supervision of Kadic's staff. They took the summer off, mostly because blonde-haired Jeremie found a way to prevent most XANA attacks before they even began.

Jeremie spent his summer with his now-retired, older parents. They did not have enough money to travel around France like they had previously planned, so the family of three stayed at home. Mr. Belpois, who once was a prestigious engineer, helped Jeremie build a faster, more efficient laptop. Mrs. Belpois, who was a well-renowned scientist that secretly gardened in her free time, bonded with Jeremie during the summer.

Jeremie dreamed about Aelita while helping his mother (who had a terrible case of the cold) around the house. When asked what he was daydreaming about, Jeremie would just reply with a nonchalant, "Nothing, mother."

While Jeremie was learning how to upgrade his computer from his father, Yumi was having a delightful time at her house. Her parents were going through with the divorce, and Yumi was in the heat of it. Both her mother and father wanted her to side with them. Finally, her mother took custody of Yumi and her brother, and her father moved out of the house.

"Mom," said Yumi over dinner one night, "are you and Dad ever going to get back together?"

Mrs. Ishiyama froze in mid-bite. She sighed and finished chewing (albeit slowly) before she gave an answer.

The answer was deliberate and pained. "I don't know, dear."

"I'm glad you guys got a divorce. Now you guys won't fight anymore," Yumi's brother quickly added.

Mrs. Ishiyama shot a hard look at the boy. He quietly excused himself and bolted to his room. "Well, I'm sad that you guys couldn't work it out, if you wanted to know my opinion," said Yumi coolly.

The young mother sighed and simply walked to her bedroom. Shutting the door quietly, Mrs. Ishiyama left Yumi to her own devices.

Yumi spent the majority of the summer sulking in her bedroom. However, sometimes she strolled to the factory, just to see if anyone had inhabited it since that unfortunate incident last year. It horrified Yumi to think that the more people knew about this Code: LYOKO operation, the more the world was in danger of becoming destroyed.

Yumi longed to call Ulrich, but for some reason, his cell phone was always off. Yumi did not realize that her best friend was so badly in need of her at that moment.

**Chapter Two: Ulrich**

Ulrich's parents were pleased to see that their only living child was the star of the Kadic High School soccer team as well as being in the top 30 of his graduating class (Jeremie was valedictorian). The only thing that Mr. and Mrs. Stern were not too pleased with was Ulrich's new style of dressing.

Ulrich figured that if baggy jeans and black tee shirts (sometimes red, if the black shirts were in the wash) were the only thing that kept his parents from loving him, he needed to find new parents. The sudden change in clothes came from the realization that it was about time to grow up. After all, he was seventeen years old.

After driving around in his newly-acquired car (given to him as a birthday present from his parents), Ulrich came home to his father waiting nervously by the phone in the kitchen. The boy became apprehensive.

"Dad, are you okay?" Ulrich asked, trying not to sound suspicious.

Mr. Stern fidgeted around a bit. "I'm… doing fine."

Ulrich put down his keys gently on the counter where his father was sitting. He glanced at the clock which said the time was only 11:31.

"Shouldn't you be at work now?"

His dad leaned his head in his hands. He was starting to shake. "I- I-"

Ulrich peered at his father. "Where's Mom? Or are you taking a sick day?"

Mr. Stern slammed his hands down on the counter. There were two streams of tears coming out of his eyes. "She's in the hospital, okay!"

Ulrich's world had been on three pillars since he started school. Because he was the only child, the pressure was stacked higher; more pressure meant the world became more unstable. This news of his mother being in the hospital threw his world off-balance once more.

Ulrich's voice became quiet. "Why?"

Mr. Stern took a deep breath. "I don't know. I couldn't go in the ambulance. I don't know if I can even go in the hospital."

His son remembered that his father almost fainted the last time he saw a needle- and that was when Ulrich was getting a booster shot before entering kindergarten.

"Please, Dad. I'll drive you, it'll be alright."

"No-no-no…"

Ulrich did something for the first time since he was just a toddler. He hugged his father. "I love you, Dad. And you love Mom. Come with me. Don't do it for me- do it for Mom."

And with that, the two companions quietly drove to the hospital where Mrs. Stern was taken.

**Chapter Three: A Collapsing World**

After finding out Mrs. Stern's room number (Intensive Care Unit, Bed 8), the two trudged up three flights of stairs to get there. Mr. Stern calmed down, but Ulrich hated seeing his own father so upset.

They had reached the ICU and checked in at the nurse's station, which was more hectic than fighting twenty of XANA's monsters at once.

"Who is the patient you are trying to see?" asked one ancient-looking nurse, peering over her glasses.

Ulrich gulped and tried to find his voice. "Heidi Stern, ma'am."

"And to what relation are you to Ms. Stern?"

"He is her husband," Ulrich pointed at his dad then at himself, "and I am her son."

The nurse pursed her lips. "How old are you, my boy?"

Ulrich murmured, "Seventeen, ma'am."

She nodded and leaned in to Ulrich. With a soft whisper, she told Ulrich, "You aren't allowed to be in this area unless you are eighteen. But, the outlook isn't good for her. On those conditions only are you allowed to be back there. But don't stay too long, you hear?"

Ulrich was about to respond with the question of his mother's diagnosis, but the intercom interrupted him. "Attention, attention please," a bland womanly computerized voice urgently pressed the staff and visitors of the hospital, "code blue. Intensive Care Unit."

The words were succinct and chilling. Behind him, his father gasped as many doctors and technicians raced into the ICU, past Ulrich and around the corner and into a corridor. Ulrich tried to block out the intercom, but just couldn't.

Nurses were screaming, "What bed?" And one said, "Bed Eight!" The commotion went to the corridor where the mob ran to.

Ulrich's world was falling apart at the seams- and the pillars weren't holding it up much better.

Ulrich dared not to look at his father's face, knowing himself what his father's look would hold. The kind ICU reception nurse bobbed her grey curls and led the father and son through the now virtually empty nurse's station. Ulrich's heart stopped beating as he watched the teams resuscitate a pale, naked body.

That's all she became was a body. A pale, cold, lifeless body that wouldn't breathe when commanded to do so. God was using Heidi Stern to show that He himself was in charge- not the doctors or technicians or even the poor woman.

Ulrich ran to the bed in what felt like slow motion. He saw a red-headed chubby doctor use his stethoscope and shake his head. A young, black-haired man in a lab coat stared at the clock and to the blonde nurse next to him, he moved his lips barely. Ulrich looked at the clock too. It was 13:10 in the afternoon of August 29.

By the time he reached the bed, the team had cleared out, except for one nurse. She was closing the curtain that separated the bed from the corridor. Ulrich jumped into the room before the curtain finished closing. The pretty nurse understood, smiled, and walked out of the makeshift room quietly.

Ulrich saw that, despite all the distress that was going around her, his mother seemed to be at peace. Her face reminded him of those times when she would contemplate and meditate at the breakfast table before going to work. Not really a smile, but not a frown either. She looked like a life-size doll, a replica of his mother.

Her hair was askew across the pillow as if she were asleep. Ulrich was transported back into his 5-year-old days, when he would wake up his mother in the middle of the night.

"Mommy? I had a nightmare, Mommy. Can I sleep with you?"

"Of course, dear," she would say quietly, as to not wake up her husband. And Ulrich would climb into the big, warm bed with the tattered quilts.

But she wasn't asking if he had had a nightmare. She was dead. He started to cry. Not sob, like his father was doing outside of the room, but cry silently. He had never cried before. Never.

He touched her cold, pale face. Her breast was exposed, the breast where he might have nursed when he was just a newborn, he speculated. How eerie it felt to touch the dead! With tears in his puffy red eyes, he covered her up, so that her breast and the paddle marks were not exposed to the cruel, harsh world.

She didn't wake up. He kissed her on the cheek. "Bye, Mom," he whispered shakily. He left a single tear on that cheek which he kissed so many times before when he was in elementary school.

Ulrich found the sheet that was thrown off her bed in her last moments and shook it out. Gently parachuting the blanket over the bed, he laid the white sheet over his mother's rigid body. The blanket just covered her, and she was gone.

His world was beginning to collapse.

**Chapter Four: The Terrible News**

Odd and Aelita were having a wonderful time at Odd's aunt's house when his cell phone rang. "Hello?"

"Odd? It's Yumi. Where are you?"

Odd smiled at Aelita, who had no idea who was on the other line, and said, "I don't know."

"Oh come on," Yumi groaned. After a rough day of dealing with her mother's wide range of emotions, Yumi was not in the mood for dealing with Odd's antics. "I'm not in the mood."

"WHO ARE YOU?" Odd screamed comically. Aelita stifled her laughter.

Yumi was ready to throw the phone at the wall. "Look, I'm not in the mood, Odd. I just wanted to tell you-"

"I don't want any roast beef sandwiches, thank you. I said no!" Odd did his best impression of Jim, the ever-lovable physical education coach.

"ODD!" Yumi screamed. "It's important!"  
"I bet it is," Odd said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Go ahead, do tell."

"Did you read the paper today?"

Odd's response was a typical one. "No."

Yumi sighed loudly. "I was reading the obituaries, and-"

"What, worried that you've died too young?"

"It's Ulrich."

Odd's voice was so loud it startled Aelita and Kiwi. "Ulrich _died_!" The boy cringed at the thought of his best friend dying.

"No! It's his mom. She passed away yesterday afternoon."

Odd's face fell. He didn't know what to say or think. He handed the phone to Aelita.

"Hello? Why is Odd so upset?" she asked innocently.

"Hi, Aelita. It's Yumi. Yeah, Ulrich's mom died yesterday afternoon."

Aelita handled the news better than her roommate. "I am very sorry to hear that." A slight pause and then, "Do you know anything else?" Aelita wasn't a gossip, but she didn't know what else to say.

"Ulrich's dad came home to surprise Ulrich's mom- it says her name was Heidi- and she was lying unconscious and hardly breathing. Her dad called an ambulance, but refused to go in it. Ulrich said he has a fear of needles.

"So Ulrich convinced his dad to go to the hospital with him as soon as Ulrich got home. As soon as they got up the ward, Mrs. Stern went into a cardiac arrest and died during the arrest.

"Do you want me to read you the obituary?"

"What's an obituary?" inquired Aelita innocently.

"It's when newspapers tell about who died and other stuff like that. It's a sort of tribute. Anyway, it says: '_Stern, Heidi J. Heidi, age 45, passed away unexpectedly on August 29 at 13:10 in the afternoon at District Hospital. Heidi was preceded in death by her parents, Tomas and Lucile, but she is survived by her husband and her son, Ulrich. Services will be held at Saint Maria's Church, and the burial will be private. For more information, call 855-321. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Kadic Women's Shelter_.'"

Aelita was stunned. Poor Odd, he was still in shock. The girl responded after a few moments. "What do we do?"

Yumi had this figured out. "I was think you, me, Odd, and Jeremie would go pay our respects to Ulrich and his dad. My mom and I are going to make him a dinner. I can't believe that mom and I are getting along, finally."

"Yumi, do you think that XANA had a part in this?"

"No, humans die unexpectedly all the time. Look, let's just forget XANA and LYOKO, okay?" Yumi's voice was starting to rise in anger. "For once, Aelita, let's live like human beings, okay?"

Aelita replied quietly, "We'll meet you at your house at two, before we go over to Ulrich's house." And she hung up the phone to tell Odd the terrible news.

**Chapter Five: Aelita and Odd**

Aelita and Odd couldn't go to Odd's real parents' house for the summer. They lived on the other side of the world in a little island country off of New Zealand called Paik Isle, and they didn't have the money to keep shipping him and his new friend back and forth from Odd's homeland.

The whole reason Odd wanted to go Kadic in the first place was because he wanted to travel the world before he became a sheep herder- just like his all of the Della family line. Fortunately, Odd's young and sprightly aunt, Clara Robbia, lived in Paris where all the fancy writers of the time lived.

Odd's ancestry was as strange as the teen himself. The Robbia clan, who originated from Italy, moved northward to interbreed with Scandinavians and Irish folk. Odd's maternal grandmother lived in Amsterdam, where his dad and his seven sisters and two brothers grew up.

Odd's dad, Élan, met the Della family when he was serving as a missionary in that island region. The Della's had been a sheepherding family for countless generations and were one of the few families to have sheep in Paik.

Élan met December Robbia when he was twenty-two and she was just seventeen. They got married soon after, much to the surprise but delight of December's granddad, mother, and two younger sisters.

December gave birth to a baby boy and a baby girl the next year. They named him Todd Shadow Della Robbia, but because of his curious nature, the nickname Odd stuck for many years afterwards. The girl's name was Alana April Della Robbia, but she was fondly known as Allie.

December tried to home school her son, his twin sister, and their three younger sisters (Sunshine, Francesca, and Serena), but they did not receive a proper education. Odd wrote to his aunt in France on his thirteenth birthday asking for a trip to her house in Paris. He knew he would end up on the sheepherder business eventually, so he wanted to travel the world before he ended up stuck on Paik Isle like the rest of his family had been.

Clara Robbia, who was just twenty-something at that time, willingly agreed to send Odd to Paris and to a local school for a year- provided he got good grades and tried his hardest.

Odd was very grateful, but he wanted his twin to come too. Allie told him no, wishing him to be successful and get the inseparable twins financially out of the Paik Isle hellhole.

So Clara hosted Odd and his best friend "from school who is an orphan and has nowhere to go" named Aelita Stones in her cozy little ranch. The ranch was quaint, reminiscent of the storybook era, with massive amounts of gardens surrounding the property. The backyard was an acre wide, but Clara only cared for a small portion of it.

Odd and Clara showed Aelita around the Parisian countryside, while Aelita discovered a fantastic human world of which she used to live in when she was a little girl. Clara and Aelita bonded extremely well on this vacation, making Odd wonder if his family was in fact related to the Hoppers (Aelita's real family). Odd and Aelita had some time to themselves too, especially when Clara was in one of her "writing moods"- not to be disturbed at any cost.

Aelita furnished the attic with old furniture she and Odd found at junk sales. It was quite the room, with two beds under the single-paneled window, separated by nothing more than a miniscule nightstand. At the staircase's rail, a run-down dresser held both teen's clothes as best as it could. Odd and Aelita had their books, luggage, and mismatched items across from the dresser, near Odd's bed. Kiwi slept on Odd's bed- and occasionally Aelita's.

Aelita and Odd got along like best friends should. They would stay up countless nights gossiping and confiding in each other, sometimes finally dozing off at sunrise.

"Aelita, what are your plans after Kadic?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll go travel the world. Maybe I'll stay here with you guys."

Odd hugged his pillow against his shirtless body. "I know what I'm going to do."

"What- become a music star like you've been talking about for the past decade?" Aelita giggled softly.

Odd blushed and put down his pillow in his lap. He looked away from Aelita. "Well, I don't know. I mean- I know what I want out of life."

"What's that?"

"I want to fall in love- for real. And I want to get married. And I want to have a couple of kids and settle down. And I want to be happy."

Aelita's eyes softened as she looked upon the skinny frame of the Odd she always had a place in her heart for. She replied softly, "Those are wonderful dreams."

He met her eyes. She continued with a charming smile. "They'll come true. You're a good man. You deserve to have a child of your own."

He laughed. "And what? No marriage? Fine, I get it." They both laughed some more.

She looked in his eyes. "You'll make a great father. I can see it in you." Aelita got up from her bed and made her way over to his. "You'll be a loving, caring person who knows how to have fun."

And the next thing he knew, Odd found the pink-and-blonde-haired Aelita, who only had on a tank top and shorts on, sitting on his bed next to him. He dared not to look at her, fearing what emotions might come next.

"Why, thank you, Aelita," he pretended that she wasn't even there. Well, tried to. It was really difficult for Odd. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. Why this? She was supposed to be his cousin in school, a pity friend in front of his Aunt Clara, Jeremie's love interest, nothing more- just a friend, just a friend!

She continued to sit there. "You'll be a great dad, I bet. You'll take your kids to all these places that we've seen- heck, you might even go back to Paik Isle and visit your Allie! That would be fun. We should go do that sometime soon." Aelita sighed happily. "Well, I better get off to bed. Busy day ahead of us!"

Odd smiled and snuggled into his bed. "Good night, princess." She giggled, rolled over, and immediately went to sleep. Odd was too happy to fall asleep.

**Chapter Six: Respects**

It was a long ride to the Stern family's house. It was a tiny house, one which was built on a busy main thoroughfare. When Odd (who was driving), Yumi, and Aelita arrived around three o'clock, they encountered the family's three cars, plus two others.

Odd got out of the blue SUV and adjusted his cactus-colored button-down while Yumi motherly straightened his black tie. Yumi wore a conservative black dress, while Aelita wore borrowed a pair of Yumi's black pants and Yumi's dark grey satin shirt. Aelita waited for the pair with her arms full of Yumi's casserole dish.

Yumi was the first one up to the doorbell and thusly rang it. Mr. Stern, who appeared disheveled and bleary-eyed, opened the large wooden door slowly. "Hello? Oh, hi, Yumi, Odd, and um…"

"I'm Aelita Stones. I go to school with Ulrich. How do you do?" she replied courteously.

Mr. Stern didn't answer, probably because he didn't hear the soft-spoken pink-haired girl. "Yes, Ulrich is in the backyard. Poor kid, I bet he's taking this harder than I am." And then more to himself than the teens, "At least I have a mother, right now, I mean…" His attention diverted back to the teens that waited on the tiny shaded porch. "Follow me; it's easier to get through to the house."

Aelita gave Mr. Stern the food and followed Yumi to the backyard. She knew where to go, so Mr. Stern didn't need to tell them, obviously.

Odd had never been to Ulrich's house, probably because Ulrich was ashamed of his house. It was small and plain, but Heidi decorated the one story ranch nicely. The front door led into a pale yellow room that had wonderful roses in vases all around the room. On the couches sat an old, worn out couple and a handsome man with a beard as well as what appeared to be his young daughter.

After the gang passed through the family room, they encountered a hallway and turned left into the small, olive-accented kitchen. Yumi quickened her pace and was virtually running out the door to see her precious Ulrich.

There he sat, on a tire swing, looking depressed yet calm as he stared into space. Yumi thought he looked handsome in his black long-sleeve button down and grey tie and black pants and hair gelled down flat. She felt it wouldn't be right to say that, however.

"Hi, Ulrich," she murmured. He turned around surprised and tried to smile. Although he wasn't crying at this moment, Yumi noticed that he had been crying a lot previously to their visit.

"Hey, Ulrich, how are you holding up?" Odd tried to comfort his best friend.

Ulrich bowed his head and mumbled, "I'm okay, I guess."

Aelita replied somberly, "I bet you loved her a lot."

Ulrich replied without looking up. "That's what I don't get. I love something, the only thing that meant anything to me, and it gets taken away from me." Yumi gasped. She knew that he was also inferring to her past relationship with William- well, before the incident, anyway.

Odd cleared his throat before speaking again, "She's in a better place now, Ulrich." He put his hand on Ulrich's shoulder. "We're here for you, buddy."

"Who are those people on the couch?" asked Aelita innocently.

Ulrich perked up. "Visitors?"

"Yeah, an old couple and a man and a little girl; they're in your family room talking with your dad," replied Odd.

"Oh, that would be my dad's parents and my mom's brother and my cousin, Shania. They're here to pay respects, I bet," Ulrich said bitterly.

Yumi got angry. "Why can't you be happy, Ulrich? I know it's hard losing a parent, but you could at least be happy that people care about you. God!"

Aelita gasped. "Yumi!"

Ulrich abruptly got up from his place on the tire swing and stormed off into the house. Odd followed on his heels, not because he too was mad at Yumi, but because he was more worried about his friend's wellbeing at the moment. Aelita was torn, so after a few moments, she dragged the sullen Yumi into the house and followed the two boys.

Aelita found Ulrich and Odd down the hallway the gang did not go down before. They were in Ulrich's room, a small but comfortable room with a martial arts theme in it. Ulrich had two photographs in his room: the one on his nightstand was of his mom and him. There was a beach in the background, as well as a cloudless pale indigo sky- the sun was nowhere in sight either. The foreground showed a young Mrs. Stern with her arms draped in front of a six-year-old Ulrich. The boy was smiling wide, showing where three of his baby teeth had dropped out. The sparkle in his eyes showed he was truly enjoying the moment, and his mom seemed more beautiful than ever before.

Ulrich sat perched on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. Odd comforted him by patting his back gently. Yumi stood with her arms crossed across from him. Aelita paced the room slowly.

"Is there a reason you are mad that your family is here?" Aelita asked innocently. She was trying to break the ice, since Jeremie wasn't there to converse with her.

Ulrich sighed. He knew this conversation was inevitable. "I love my grandparents; they're so nice. But they want my dad to give up custody so I can live with them in Southern France. I can't do that."

"What about your uncle and Shania?" asked Yumi quietly, trying to make amends with Ulrich slowly.

"Uncle Greg and Shania…." Ulrich said distractedly, lifting his head and shooting lasers out of his eyes. "I don't have anything against Shania, it's my Uncle Greg."

Odd spoke up. "If you don't want to talk about it-"

"I don't."

Aelita stopped pacing. She noticed a tiny gold-framed photograph with the picture of a baby in a pink one-piece suit. The baby looked no more than a few days old. She ran her finger on the photo. "Who is this?"

Ulrich stopped sulking and perked up. "What?"

"This picture- it can't be you, can it?" she smiled at him, knowing perfectly well it wasn't.

He stood up and walked slowly to it. "I haven't looked at this picture in ages. Her name is Katrina."

"She is beautiful." Odd joined Aelita at the photograph.

"You know what? She has your eyes. That's freaky."

Yumi and Ulrich joined them too. "She should- she's my sister," he laughed at Odd's naivety.

"You have a sister? Where do you keep her- in the closet?" Odd was so clueless.

"Well, my parents got married and they tried having kids, but my mom kept having miscarriages. After I was born, when I was like three, my mom had Katrina.

"One night, when it was Halloween, I had just come back from trick-or-treating with my dad. Uncle Greg and Aunt Bridgette, they were over helping with Katrina and my mom. Katrina was a week old only.

"And in the middle of the night, my Aunt Bridgette and Uncle Greg said good-bye and left very quickly and quietly. My mom noticed in the morning that baby Katrina didn't cry at all in the middle of the night.

"I remember the police were involved for days and days afterwards. My grandparents had me sleep over at their house while my house was being searched and stuff. Uncle Greg confessed the whole thing, and because he ratted out Aunt Bridgette, he got amnesty.

"Katrina was found in a trash can somewhere in near-perfect condition- except she had died from lack of care during those cold November nights. And Aunt Bridgette was arrested. My cousin Shania (she's nine) was conceived and born during my aunt's court proceedings. I haven't heard from Aunt Bridgette since her arrest.

"It broke my mom's heart to bury her only daughter. I never knew my sister, thanks to my selfish aunt and uncle. And Shania, I can't hate her because she didn't do anything wrong. But it hurts to know that I don't have a sister because of her mom, but she never knew her mom and probably never will. Now I don't have a sister or a mom." Ulrich sighed with a smile.

Odd was now doubly confused. "You're happy about this?"

"No," Ulrich answered, "You made me put this into perspective. Thanks guys."

The rest of the gang looked around as Ulrich left his room. "Did I do something?" Odd asked as he pointed at the suddenly-carefree Ulrich.

Aelita just shrugged and followed Ulrich.

**Chapter Seven: Aelita's and Jeremie's Conversation**

Jeremie received the news about Ulrich's mom, Ulrich's sister, and the newest fight between Ulrich and Yumi from Aelita over the instant messenger system.

**JBLYOKO**_: That's horrible about his mom and sister, Aelita, but what can I say about Yumi and Ulrich?_

**AELITA1010**_: Not sure myself, Jeremie._

The blonde-haired boy sighed. Yumi and Ulrich were made for each other; why couldn't they just be a couple already? It drove Jeremie up the wall when they fought because it ruined the group's camaraderie.

**JBLYOKO**: _Anyway, Aelita, I just wanted to say that I cannot wait to see you on September 5._

**AELITA1010**: _Yes, same here. But I had a really fun time with Odd. I don't want to leave. _

**JBLYOKO**: _Odd is a bad influence, get away now! Just kidding. I'm glad you had fun, Aelita._

**AELITA1010**: _You are so funny, Jeremie. Sorry you can't come to the funeral tomorrow. It would've been nice to see you._

**JBLYOKO**: _Oh well. My parents won't let me drive that far especially right before school. Well, I'm tired, I'm going to bed. See you later._

**AELITA1010**: _Good night, Jeremie._

With that, Jeremie signed off and trudged off to his soft bed in the room next door.


	2. Part 2

**Part Two: Kadic High School**

**Chapter Eight: Nothing Changes**

"Hey, Ulrich!" Odd yelled as he ran from the gate to where his best friend had just gotten out of the parking lot.

Ulrich stopped and smiled at his best friend. "Gee, Odd, you don't have to be so loud. I'm right here."

Odd looked his friend over cheerfully. "You've been in such a good mood lately, but I can't figure it out. Well, whatever's your secret, you better share it with Sissy."

Just then, the diva of the school, Sissy Delmas, walked by prissily. She harrumphed at Odd's little antics, flipped her hair behind her shoulder, and walked on. Ulrich and Odd shared a good laugh at her expense. Odd lifted one of Ulrich's bags onto his shoulder. "Come on, Ulrich! We have to go make fun of Jeremie now!"

**Chapter Nine: Girl from another World**

Yumi was helping Aelita unpack in her dormitory when there was a delicate knock on the door. Aelita looked at Yumi, wondering if her companion was expecting any visitors, and the knock came once more.

Aelita cleared her throat. "Who is it?"

"Can I come in? No one's changing or anything, right?" the female voice responded hurriedly in an accent Aelita had never heard before.

Aelita smiled. "Not that I'm aware of." She opened the door to see a girl about her age struggling with two heavy duffel bags and a backpack at the door. Aelita quickly helped by putting a duffel bag on the bed across from hers.

The new girl, who had long blonde hair and a petite skinny frame, blushed when she saw Yumi. "Oh, am I in the wrong room?"

Yumi chuckled. "No, I'm just a friend of Aelita's. I do believe that's your bed."

The girl relaxed and sat down on her bed. "I'm embarrassed, but you can call me Therese." Aelita laughed heartily at the girl's humor. It reminded her so much of Odd.

"Hey, Therese. I'm Yumi, and that's Aelita. And these are socks," Yumi held up a pair of freshly folded white socks. Therese and Aelita were both giggling so hard they had to hold their sides.

After that little laugh fest, Therese started to unpack. "I'm actually from England, but my parents were born near here. They both went to school here, so they wanted me to go too."

Yumi went over to Therese's bed and helped her unpack while Aelita hung the last of her skirts in the closet. "Sounds like a real treat, Therese. Both Aelita and I are not from around here either. I'm from Japan, and she's from…"

"Holland!" Aelita interjected. "Good country. Lots of tulips," she added quickly.

Yumi murmured to her pink-haired friend, "Nice save. Thanks a bunch." And louder to Therese, "So, are you a senior or a junior?"

"I'm just a junior. Nothing special." She paused and looked at Aelita. "I like what you did with your hair. Are you an artist or something?"

Aelita shook her head. "I just like the color pink."

"My favorite color is purple. I don't know why. It's just a really cool color!" Therese added perkily.

Yumi narrowed her eyes and smiled mischievously. "One of my best friends who goes here has a lot in common with you. You'll get to meet him during dinner tonight."

"Oh, that's so cool! I need friends." Therese blushed. "Well, I have you two, but more would be cool, too."

Aelita chuckled as she hung up a robe on the nearest coat rack. "I felt the same way when I came here. Don't worry, you'll really like him."

**Chapter Ten: In Jeremie's Room**

"You know, Jeremie, you could really lighten up. It was just a joke," Odd responded as cool as he could.

Jeremie was fuming. "I got away from you for this entire summer, and you repay me by unleashing your hyperactive, slobbery, peeing dog all over me and my computer! That's not exactly a funny joke!"

"I thought it was," Ulrich piped up, laughing. His laughing died when Jeremie glared at him evilly. "Shutting up…"

Odd thought it would cheer Jeremie up to see the two buddies, but it didn't go exactly as planned.

The blonde boy grabbed Kiwi (who was getting rather old) and raced down the hall to Jeremie's room. Ulrich was in close pursuit because he was excited to see Jeremie after a XANA-free summer. Odd excitedly knocked on the door. "Jeremie! Jeremie! Open up! It's us!"

Jeremie was thrilled to see them both, but as soon as he opened the door, Kiwi instantly began peeing all over the place. Odd yelped and threw the dog forward, which ended up being at Jeremie. Jeremie was surprised too, and he dropped Kiwi.

Kiwi went to investigate the new computer and proceeded to slobber all over it. Odd, knowing that Kiwi was a destructive dog, raced back to his room and put the old dog in his kennel.

Ulrich just slipped into Jeremie's room while the computer wizard tried his best to clean off the keyboard using only his sleeve. However, Jeremie ended up changing his shirt due to the fact that the slobber was just too much for the shirt to handle.

Odd came back wearing a new shirt as well. "Sorry, Jeremie," he smiled. "I didn't mean too."

But Jeremie was wondering if Odd really valued their friendship. Ever since Odd joined the LYOKO gang, Odd was forever undermining Jeremie's authority. And Odd was so full of himself!

Ulrich brought Jeremie back into reality. "Guys, it's time for dinner. I'm starving! Let's go!" Odd didn't look in Jeremie's direction as he ran out right behind Ulrich. Jeremie scowled and followed behind the two scoundrels at a slower pace.

**Chapter Eleven: Dinner**

"Hi, Rosa!" Yumi smiled and waved at the familiar lunch lady. "Did you have a good summer?"

Rosa shrugged and gave an extra helping of ice cream to Yumi as she replied, "It was alright. Have a good dinner!" Yumi waited while Aelita and Therese received their extra helpings of ice cream as well. It was good to be friends with the staff at Kadic.

Yumi found where the three boys were sitting and beckoned the two younger girls to follow her. She got to the table first.

"Hey guys! Long time, no see, eh?" She sat down as Aelita got to the table next.

"We have a lovely lady for you to meet, Odd." At that moment, Therese appeared, looking lovelier to Odd than anything in the entire world.

Yumi finished Aelita's statement. "This is Therese. She's Aelita's roommate- and she's from England! How cool is that?" Aelita and Therese chuckled.

Therese didn't look at anybody else until after she had finished her first helping of green beans. There was Yumi across from her, what a real pal! Therese loved Yumi's strong headedness as well as her quirky sense of humor.

Pink-haired and shy Aelita sat to her right. Aelita and Therese had so much in common; the blonde hoped to get to know Aelita a bit better.

To her right, although she could hardly see his face, saw a blonde-haired boy with glasses. He seemed intelligent, like the leader of the group.

And then the brown-haired lad sitting next to Yumi, he seemed like the sporty-type. He was wearing a black tee, making him seem like the rebel of the group. There was something about those wondrous eyes that she couldn't stop looking at…

To the right of the brown-haired boy sat a scrawny blonde with a dashing smile and bright green eyes. He seemed out of place here, with his purple shirt and- was this the one boy that Yumi and Aelita had mentioned in the dormitory?

Therese winked at him, wondering if he caught the message. He blushed and smiled. "Hi, hi, hi…" the boy stuttered as Therese giggled.

Ulrich nudged him. "Say, my name is Odd," his friend urged him on.

Odd seemed to be too nervous to say anything but, "Odd, Odd, Odd…"

Yumi laughed. "That's the one we were talking about. He actually can make coherent sentences-" she paused as she watched Ulrich shake Odd out of his stutter, "-but he's too much in love with you. May I take a message?" Even Jeremie, who was in a bad mood, had to laugh at Yumi's poking fun at Odd.

Therese asked Aelita, "Where do I put the tray when I'm done?" and Aelita showed the new girl by leading her over to the trash can.

Meanwhile, Ulrich punched Odd in the arm. "You like her, don't you?"

Odd nodded solemnly, then cracked a smile and put two thumbs up in approval. Yumi sighed at her friend.

Therese smiled at Odd. "You seem like a nice fellow. Would you like to show me where my classes are for tomorrow? I'd hate to be lost."

Odd was instantly up in his chair, but he knocked the table and spilled his water all over the front of his blue jeans. "Oh, darn it," he muttered.

"I think they look better," Therese mused as she looked at the abstract water stain on her new companion's jeans.

He straightened up and held out his hand. "Why thank you, Mademoiselle, I designed them myself. Would you care to join me for an evening excursion around the high school?"

Therese, in an equally formal manner, replied, "Oh, how kind of you to ask! I would love to go on an excursion with you!"

The rest of the gang laughed as Odd and Therese waltzed out the cafeteria door in their own little world.

"That's so cute, isn't it?" Yumi sighed as she stared dreamily at the door. "Maybe he found true love."

Aelita sniffled and it caught the attention of the others. "What's wrong, Aelita?" asked a concern Jeremie.

"It's nothing, okay?" she stormed off.

Jeremie looked puzzled at her. "Yumi, is she moody because she's a girl or because she's sad that Therese left her?"  
Yumi shrugged. "Not sure. But I'll find out." She raced off after her friend.

Ulrich sighed as he and Jeremie silently took their trays (as well as Odd's and Yumi's) to the trash can. Then, they headed up to their rooms for a restful nights sleep.

**Chapter Twelve: True Love**

Odd and Therese were walking around the campus, figuring out the distance between Science and Math, when Therese stopped and looked straight up.

"It's such a perfect night out, isn't it?" she gleamed.

Odd looked up also. "How did you figure that out?"

She giggled and met his eyes. "The stars, the moon, the friends, you."

Odd blushed and adjusted his purple shirt. "Oh, come on…"

"It's true! I've never felt this way before. I've never felt so…"

"Complete?" he finished her sentence. "Same here." He slipped his hand into hers, and her face flushed.

Therese started to run, dragging Odd behind her. She was laughing, and Odd was beginning to think that she was a maniac. Or maybe she was such a carefree spirit, she needed to run.

_Just like Aelita_, he thought.

Therese stopped under a weeping willow and giggled. There were fireflies dancing around her head, and Odd watched as she picked a wildflower and put it behind her ear.

Next thing he knew, he found himself kissing the blonde and forgetting all about the girl from another world.

**Chapter Thirteen: A Broken Heart**

"Aelita?"

Yumi knocked softly on the door, but entered anyway. Some rules needed to be broken in order to comfort friends in desperate need. "Aelita, don't cry."

Aelita didn't listen and cried even harder. The poor girl was curled up on her bed, not even in her pajamas, sobbing so pitifully, it tugged at the strings of Yumi's heart.

Yumi sat down next to her and patted her side. "Aelita, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, go away!" she whispered loudly.

A few minutes rolled by as Aelita's tears became more and more quiet. She sat up slowly and hugged her knees to her chest.

"Aelita, you can tell me what's the matter, you know that," Yumi spoke gently and softly. "I'm sure you'll feel better once you do."

Aelita peered at her angrily through red-rimmed eyes. "You're just being nosy."

Yumi sighed. "I'm not being nosy, Aelita. I want to know what's wrong so I can help you feel better. Admit it, it's not fun being sad." Aelita shook her head.

"When I was with Odd this summer, I don't know-"

"Come on, you can tell me."

"I felt, I felt… I was so happy with him. He treated me so kindly, so much more than a friend. He was so amazing, and he told me… things."

After a long silence, Yumi asked, "What kind of things?"

"He told me that the one thing he really wanted was to have true love. And the way he looked at me when he said it, I could have sworn it was about me!" Aelita began to sob again.

Yumi finally saw what was going on. Aelita was falling for Odd, but Odd, even if he was at that time falling for Aelita, found a new interest in Therese. Aelita probably wasn't jealous, but she was clearly upset for not becoming Odd's true love icon.

"But what about Jeremie?"

Aelita wiped her eyes. "I don't feel the same way I used to feel when we first started battling XANA." Then, a pause. "I don't love him, Yumi."

Yumi hugged Aelita. "Things will work themselves out; don't you fret."

**Chapter Fourteen: Can't Get Much Worse**

"Some things never change," sighed Ulrich with a laugh. "You, Jeremie, and I have the same schedule- again."

Odd nodded as he stuffed an entire piece of toast in his mouth. "It's too bad I don't have Therese in any of my classes."

Ulrich shrugged as he finished his orange juice. "I can't wait for math," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Oh joy."

"It can't be that bad, can it?"

Ulrich rolled his eyes.

"Welcome, class!" the beautiful, young teacher cheerfully greeted her attentive students. "I'm Professor Roanoke! I hope you had a nice summer." She searched her class. "How about you, dear? Did anything fun happen over the summer?"

Ulrich was amazed she was pointing at him. "Um, no not really."

"Oh, there must be something that happened!"

He bit his lip and muttered, "Well, my mom died."

Professor Roanoke gasped. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"

Ulrich shrugged. "Things happen."

The entire span of the class, the teacher was flustered because of Ulrich's unexpected answer. She probably was new to the teaching system because of her skittish nature. While she was reviewing some algebra terms, Jeremie nudged Ulrich in the side.

"Hey, Ulrich," he whispered. "You're not mad at her, are you?"

He shook his head. "Eh, I don't care. I just wish she didn't remind me, that's all."

Odd, who was sitting on Ulrich's left, whispered, "You know how I said 'It can't be that bad' during breakfast? I lied." He pointed in front of them. "There's Sissy!"

"I know that's Sissy! I'm not blind!" Ulrich said not so much in anger as in annoyance.

Sissy turned around at the mention of her name. "I'm sorry about the loss of your mother, Ulrich, dear. I'm also sorry about the loss of your I.Q. whenever you hang around Odd."

Odd began to fume. "At least Ulrich has friends and looks- unlike you!"

"Class!" Professor Roanoke snapped. "If you aren't going to pay attention, at least please be quiet."

Ulrich hissed at Sissy's back and hardly paid attention at whatever it was the teacher was writing on the board.

**Chapter 15: In a Trance**

Aelita was the first to speak. "How was everyone's first day?"

Ulrich sighed. "Great, just great."

"I hate the first few weeks because it's just review!" Yumi griped.

Odd and Therese were talking at the end of the table, lost in their own little world. Aelita sighed and stared at Odd, sad and despondent.

Jeremie noticed that she was staring at them. "Are you okay, Aelita?"

Aelita didn't respond. Her eyes had stopped blinking altogether.

"Aelita?" Jeremie asked once more. "Aelita!"

She snapped out of her daydream-like trance. "What is it?" she asked calmly.

"You were staring at Therese…" and a bit more slowly, "…and Odd…"

Aelita didn't say anything. She looked at Yumi with a "see-what-I-mean?" glance. Yumi cleared her throat.

"I heard some interesting news today. We're having an Autumn Dance at the end of the month," she said hurriedly.

"Oh, I just love dances!" exclaimed Aelita.

Ulrich smiled at his friend's innocence. She didn't go the dance last year because of the "incident", because of Jeremie's paranoia. "Me too. I think I'm the only guy in Kadic that likes going to dances."

Yumi laughed. "I wonder if Odd is going to DJ it for us. Or maybe you will, Aelita."

Aelita shook her head. "I want to actually dance and enjoy the music- not DJ! That is, if someone asks me to dance," she stared off at Odd again.

Ulrich looked at Yumi. "Do you want to go to the dance with me?"

Yumi frowned at him. "I don't know yet… I have to see…" And with that, she took her tray and left him sitting dumbfounded at the table.

Aelita followed her in close pursuit. Jeremie's jaw dropped in wonder. "I will never understand girls, Ulrich, never ever!"

"I don't think anyone has, Jeremie, good buddy," Ulrich replied solemnly as he watched Yumi go out of the cafeteria. "I don't think anyone can."

**Chapter Sixteen: Back to Work**

Jeremie sat alone in his room the next evening, staring at the blank computer screen. Years ago, Aelita would have kept him company for hours into the night. Now, he had nobody.

Suddenly, two small beeps came from Jeremie's computer. "That's odd. I wonder if my program is holding up." He was referring to EVE-10, a program developed for the sole purpose of preventing XANA attacks before they became out of hand (a.k.a. on Earth).

Jeremie clicked a few keys and brought up the database. "Interesting. Apparently, XANA has taken my EVE-10 hostage somewhere. But where?"

The scanner located an activated tower, somewhere in the mountain region. "Well, guys, it looks like we're back to work after all!"

**Chapter Seventeen: Naked**

Aelita was busy trying to solve her chemistry homework when her mobile rang. "Hello?" she murmured.

"Aelita! It's Jeremie. There's an activated tower- and my program's been taken hostage!"

The pink-haired pixie clicked her tongue humorously. "And there's my chemistry homework to finish. Do we need to go to the factory now?"

"Yes, no questions asked."

"Is XANA harming our world in any way right now?" Behind her, she heard a gasp. Oh no! Therese was still in the room. "Uh, I'll be right there. See you."

She hung up the phone and got up to leave. Therese looked confused. "Who is this- XANA guy?"

Aelita coughed. "I can't say right now. It's a secret, er, code. See you later, Therese!" With that, Aelita ran out of the room.

"You know, Jeremie, you always manage to call when I'm naked!" Yumi laughed.

Jeremie blushed on the other line. Girls, to him, were like foreign artifacts: look, but don't touch- and whatever you do, don't let them get in harm's way. "I guess XANA's inconvenient like that," he chuckled. "I'll see you at the factory!"

Yumi sighed and slipped on her underwear. It was a shame, even after she just took a shower, she'd have to come back home and take another one. LYOKO was a sweaty business.

Ulrich was reading in his room when he got the call on his mobile. "I'll be there in a few." He looked at Odd who was dancing to whatever was playing in his CD player and trying to read Don Quixote at the same time.

"ODD!" Ulrich screamed. "Jeremie wants us to go to the factory!" But as hard as he tried, Ulrich could not get Odd's attention. "ODD!"

Odd did a little twist and turned the page. Ulrich sighed with a smile. He began to undress… first the black tee, then unbuttoning his pants ever so slowly, trying so hard not to laugh.

His roommate turned in his direction to see Ulrich giving Odd a little show. Just as Ulrich was about to drop his pants to show his boxers, Odd screamed, "What the hell?"

Ulrich pulled up his pants and started to laugh uncontrollably. Odd tore off his headphones while still in a loud voice, "You didn't have to strip to get my attention!"

Just then the door swung open. Sissy, that ever-loving brat, gasped. There was her precious Ulrich, in all of his glorious splendor- and he wasn't wearing a shirt! But he was in the process of buttoning his pants, making Sissy wonder what they were screaming about.

"Hi, Sissy!" Odd exclaimed cheerfully. "We were, uh-"

"Why is Ulrich almost naked? And why were you screaming?" she demanded with the stomp of her foot.

Ulrich glanced at Odd who was at a loss for what to say. "Um, I was acting out a scene from Odd's book because… he… doesn't get it."

Sissy eyed him. "He doesn't get anything, Ulrich, dear." And with that she huffed and stomped away.

Odd was ready to lunge and strangle her. "Why I oughtta…"

"It's not worth it, trust me," Ulrich growled as the intruder left the room.

**Chapter Eighteen: The Hooded Figure**

Aelita was running from the school to the factory when she heard footsteps behind her. She stopped for a moment at the foot of the bridge that led to the factory.

Ever since the incident, the gang hadn't gone back to the factory. People knew that the factory was a dangerous place, not meant for four teenagers or their little antics. Jeremie had instilled a bit of paranoia in all of them, but Aelita was the most affected.

Even when Aelita stopped, the footsteps kept coming closer. Yes, those were indeed footsteps, she convinced herself. "Please, don't let it be the principal or Jim…" she muttered under her breath.

There it was, the small figure in a hooded sweatshirt, still running closer and closer to her. "Is that you, Yumi?" she ventured a guess, figuring it was probably her more than anyone else.

The figure came closer and removed the hood. "Therese!" Aelita gasped. "What are you doing here?"

The blonde shrugged. "I want to know why you're not doing your homework and especially why you aren't in our room at this hour."

Aelita frowned. What could she possibly say to the nosy girl? _Absolutely nothing _was the conclusion, and so Aelita bolted for the factory doors.

Aelita dared not to look behind her as she got into the elevator. "I want an explanation- now!" Therese commanded. Therese had gotten to the elevator before Aelita did, so Aelita had no choice.

The elevator closed and opened momentarily. "Finally!" muttered Jeremie. "Aelita-"

Aelita stomped out of the elevator. "I swear- she followed me all the way here!"

"Therese!" Odd's voice held a note of confusion, but it was mostly of a pleasant surprise.

Jeremie cleared his throat. "Yumi and Ulrich are already in the scanners. You two better get going."

Aelita took the hint and jumped back in the elevator. Odd, however, seemed to be captivated by Therese- no matter what Jeremie was saying. Aelita rolled her eyes and went to the scanners by herself.

**Chapter Nineteen: Mixed Signals**

Yumi, Ulrich, and Aelita were standing around in the mountain region, a sector favored mostly by Odd- who wasn't there.

"Hey, Jeremie," Ulrich called out, annoyed. "Where's Odd?"

Jeremie sighed. "Look, all you guys need to do is get back my EVE-10 and deactivate the tower. We don't need _him_." He turned around to see Odd and Therese locked in a lover's gaze.

Ulrich glanced at Yumi, who returned his puzzled gaze. "Do you think we can get along okay without him?" was the girl's reply.

Aelita, who was further up ahead, turned around and glared at them. "Let's just go, all right?"

Jeremie had their vehicles ready shortly afterwards. "Okay, the activated tower is somewhere north of here…" The virtualized members of the gang heard Jeremie mildly cursing in the background.

"Jeremie? What's going on?" asked Aelita as she jumped on the back of Yumi's over-wing. Even if she didn't love him anymore, she still cared about him.

"EVE-10! It's nowhere on the map!" A sigh. "Look, just deactivate the tower, and I'll keep looking for that program."

Yumi lingered over Ulrich, watching out for any tricky signs that could potentially come their way. Aelita pointed to the distance, far, far off and sort of to the right. "I think the tower is over there! I can feel the pulsations!"

The geisha-costumed girl sped up her over-wing and raced past Ulrich's over-bike. Ulrich got the message that they had spotted the tower from their higher up position. "Jeremie, I think Yumi and Aelita spotted the tower!"

"Ulrich, wait!" Yumi halted her over-wing and jolted Aelita in the process.

"What is it, Jeremie?" asked Yumi, getting impatient. She was tired from a long school day and did not feel like wasting any time in LYOKO.

"Yeah, Jeremie, what's the hold up now?" Ulrich could see the fog rolling in from above, which was not a good sign.

Jeremie rubbed his temples. "Look, EVE-10 is being held hostage somewhere by XANA; I just know it! But-"

"Then how do you know that your little program isn't in the tower, Jeremie?" reasoned Yumi.

"That would be too easy; and besides, I think XANA wants to lose us, not let us win," was the irritated reply.

Ulrich revved up his over-bike. "Look, do you want us to deactivate the tower or not?"

Yumi zoomed past him, yelling, "You know what, Jeremie? I'm going to deactivate that tower before things get out of hand like last time!" Ulrich heard Jeremie groan before he decided to follow Yumi to the activated tower.

**Chapter Twenty: The Expected and the Unexpected**

Ulrich hung back while Yumi hurled her metal fans at the two blocks obstructing the path to the tower. Because there were no other monsters, Aelita thusly raced inside the tower.

Yumi, still on her over-wing, joined Ulrich. "Isn't it just a bit too quiet around here?" she asked him.

"Shhh!" he hissed. He held perfectly still, with both eyes closed and ears seemingly perked up. Yumi dared not to move either.

It was just the noise he was looking for: _swish-swish-pause…swish-swish-swish-swish-pause…_

"Yumi." His whisper was barely audible; he didn't move his lips. "Behind you- don't look! There's a tarantula right there."

She didn't dare ask how he knew; she assumed that's what exactly he was listening for. "I wish we had Odd to use his arrows," she muttered to Ulrich.

"Shut up!" replied Ulrich in the same manner as before. "Okay, on the count of three… one… two…"

"Three!" Yumi shrieked as she turned around and whipped both fans at the menacing tarantula. It was hardly a scratch, but somehow the monster became destroyed.

Yumi turned and smiled at Ulrich, who appeared to be in shock. "I'm impressed, Yumi. How long have you been using that weapon?" he teased her.

She chuckled. "Only a couple of years at the most." Getting serious, she mused, "How long do you think Aelita will take in the tower?"

Aelita rose up to the computer room and was about to deactivate the tower when Jeremie spoke to her.

"Aelita, please tell me, why on Earth are you deactivating the tower?"

She stopped. "I was given explicit orders to rescue the program and deactivate the tower- by you."

"But- I need EVE-10!"

"You don't need EVE-10 right now. Besides, I can't even find it on the computer." She continued searching the computer screen to prove a point.

Jeremie was silent. Aelita began to deactivate the tower when she had that feeling again. It was when Therese was following her to the factory- that irrepressible feeling when something just isn't right, when someone is following you, when someone is-

"Jeremie!" she gasped. Behind her was a large, dark, and menacing pile like she had never seen before in LYOKO.

"What? What!"

"XANA left his dirty laundry in the tower!" As she scooted closer and closer to the intruder, she saw that the mound more and more resembled something she would find in a gothic boy's dorm rooms.

Odd overheard this and began to laugh. "Wow, a pile of dirty laundry activating towers. What will XANA come up with next?"

Jeremie was surprised himself. "What is dirty laundry doing inside LYOKO?"

Aelita didn't hear him. She approached the mound warily and without so much as a sound. The heap, at the sign of her almost contact, yelped and assembled itself into the most curious of objects.

"Hello," smiled Aelita. The object cooed and jumped into the moving cyber walls of the tower.

"What just happened, Aelita?"

"Well, there was this pile of what appeared to be clothes or sheets or something… but when I was about to touch it, it made itself almost human-like… I can't describe it. And it disappeared into the tower walls!"

Jeremie chuckled. "That was EVE-10, just probably charging itself in the nearest tower. Unfortunately, it was the activated one. Go on, deactivate the tower, Aelita- what are you waiting for?"

The pink-haired girl was exasperated at Jeremie's lack of focus. She quickly deactivated the tower and sent all three heroes back to the factory as Jeremie shouted, "Return to the past, now!"


	3. Part 3A

**Part Three: Remembrance**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Time Change**

It was nine o'clock.

Yumi laid her head down on her flimsy pillow, thinking of all that had happened recently. Ulrich's mom died, her parents got a divorce, Aelita admitted she loved Odd… Ulrich asking her to the autumn dance, she almost turned him down, he still being nice to her after all that…

She felt a bit drowsy, so she closed her eyes, hoping secretly that sleep would come. Instead, all she thought about was the peaceful and motionless face that was once William.

The events played out in her mind. It was last year in the spring (before the incident) when Yumi brought William home to eat dinner with the Ishiyama's. It was the last time she had ever seen her parents be civil with each other.

William was every mother's dream: good-looking, polite, smart and good to his girlfriend, her daughter. Yumi's father, on the other hand was a bit harder to please. But after a fun game of Chinese checkers, Mr. Ishiyama was impressed to know that his only daughter had found someone decent to have a relationship with. Yumi's brother, Hiroki, liked having William as a playmate that evening. This not only pleased Yumi to see him as a potential father figure, but it convinced the older Ishiyama's that William was genuine and a dream come true.

When William had to go home, Yumi walked him to the door slowly so he wouldn't have to leave so soon. She shut the door behind them as they walked outside and into the driveway where his car was waiting. He stopped abruptly and grinned at her.

"I'll call you tomorrow, okay? By the way, I had so much fun tonight," he said.

Yumi figured she was blushing. She smiled up at him and didn't say anything.

He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. Her first kiss! It was the most amazing thing she had ever felt in her entire life.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that he was waving good-bye and getting into his car. "Bye, Yumi!" he shouted.

All she could do was wave.

* * *

The next day, William asked if she would like to spend the summer with his family in Italy. His cousin Catherine was getting married in Tuscany, and his mom wanted to know if there were any other guests besides the family coming. 

After a long discussion with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ishiyama finally relented into letting her go for a five-week vacation courtesy of the Dunbar family.

* * *

There were two weeks until Catherine's wedding. Catherine Dunbar was just nineteen years old, but her fiancé was the wealthy Jonathon Hamilton III; because he was rich and powerful, the two lovebirds could do whatever they wanted. 

Yumi was in paradise. Since William was an usher, Yumi was able to participate in all of the pre-wedding activities. The two weeks went by in a flurry.

The wedding was even more of a blur, but there was something so magical and romantic about it all. At the reception, which was held in the most prestigious ballrooms in all of Italy, Yumi and William danced so close for so long… she began to wonder what it was like to be this close to a boy all of the time.

The remaining weeks were spent with William and Mrs. Dunbar in a cheap hotel on the outskirts of the city. Inside the hotel, the teens watched strange cartoon shows and swapped stories of Kadic. Outside, the teens toured the historical city, sipped sodas in the cafés, and browsed the marketplace for interesting souvenirs for her family back home.

And the vacation was over sooner than she had hoped. But the magic was far from ending.

* * *

Summer had come and gone, but with the new year at Kadic, Yumi could hardly wait until fall had begun. Kadic meant more time with William, and there was no way she could refuse the offer. 

Yumi spent that school year balancing her heavy school load with visits to LYOKO, hanging out with her usual gang, and maintaining her relationship with William. It was difficult, but she was focused and it went on without any difficulty.

Except there was the spring formal. She thought Ulrich had gotten over her by now, but he hadn't. William had already asked her, and she said yes; it was also assumed that because they were "going out," they would be going to the dance together.

Aelita went with Ulrich- as friends, he made it clear. Odd was going with one of his many girlfriends (Charlotte or Carina, she couldn't remember). Jeremie decided to stay behind to watch for any sign of XANA.

Things were going well, Yumi thought. Ulrich wasn't angry with her it seemed, but she could never be too sure. However, Ulrich loved dances as much as William hated them. Perhaps William asked her so she didn't go to Ulrich looking for a date?

The date of the dance approached quicker than the year went by. Jeremie became more and more tense and paranoid as the days zipped by. Yumi and Aelita bought dresses from downtown, while William received dance classes from Odd. The thought of Odd waltzing made Yumi laugh even as she thought about it now.

But still, there was a lot to do before the dance.

* * *

On LYOKO, Franz Hopper and XANA met in sector 5. It was agreed that all monsters would be frozen, no towers would be activated, and no attacks issued until the meeting was over. 

"XANA, get out of LYOKO now, before things get out of hand!" reasoned Franz in the form of a white, wispy cloud.

The large red cloud laughed menacingly. "Why should I? This is my home too! And besides, where should I go- Earth?"

"Leave quietly; never show your face again," Franz threatened.

"I'll make a deal with you." A pause. "We shall see who is mightier. We shall have a duel."

"Now?"

"No! When you are ready, give me a signal, Franz Hopper. Can you do that, or are you too good for that?" the evil-doer taunted.

Franz growled. "A duel, then. I shall destroy you once and for all!" With that, the cloud vanished into LYOKO's cyberspace.

* * *

Jeremie read a magazine while he received a call on his mobile. The article, even though it was about the stock market exchange, was definitely more interesting than any stupid old dance. However, he wanted the company, so he answered his phone quickly. 

"Jeremie speaking."

"Hi, Jeremie!" said Ulrich on the other end. "How's it going?"

Jeremie laughed. "I'm keeping busy. Why aren't you dancing?"

"Jim won't let us in for another fifteen minutes."

"Ah." There was a pause, a girl's voice in the background, and a shriek.

"Jeremie!" yelled Ulrich, as if the phone were miles away from him. "Something's gone terribly wrong!"

The blonde-haired boy checked his computer. There was, of course, an activated tower. "Go figure- XANA's attacking!"

Ulrich breathed heavily on the other end. "Call Yumi- Aelita and I will be right there."

Jeremie hung up his mobile and bolted from the dark, empty dormitories.

* * *

"So, thanks again, William, for taking me to the dance. I know you don't like dances-" 

He interrupted her. "It's okay," he chuckled, "I like spending time with you- whether in Tuscany or in the school gym."

It sounded as if there was a bomb dropped on the gym; girls were screaming and boys were shouting. The teachers who chaperoned the dance were trying to get the situation under control. Another explosion sounded, but there was no sign of smoke or flame.

"What's going on?" William asked Yumi at the top of his lungs. The exploding sounds kept getting more and more frequent. Yumi could see it in William's eyes that he was truly frightened.

"I don't know!" she cried. A young freshman standing next to Yumi screamed and pointed at her date; he was lying rigidly on the ground, his eyes wide open as if he were experiencing some sort of unspeakable horror. His mouth was open and gasping for air. The color was draining from his face; he appeared to be in pain.

Yumi ran for the young redheaded boy. He was ten meters away, she assumed, but she could only run for seven. There was some sort of barricade around him. His Indian girlfriend was screaming and crying his name for all to turn and hear.

Yumi scooted all around the barrier, never taking her eyes off of the boy's. They were such a bright blue; they appeared to shine in the setting sun's reflection. His eyes seemed to get bigger as the moments dragged on.

Time was slowing down. Yumi couldn't find an entrance to get around this invisible fence. The boy's breathing became more labored until his chest heaved.

There was the inhale, but where was the exhale? His body shook violently once; she heard a bunch of students yelling "Turner! Turner!"

The border lit up as if a flash of lightning had struck it. Time sped up; the border was gone- and so was Turner.

Yumi was the first one to the boy's side. People started to crowd around him. She touched his face and it was already cold. His eyes were still open, still bright, still blue- but now cold like the rest of him. They stared at Yumi; he was an innocent victim accusing her of bringing on death intentionally.

"No… no…" So this is what death was like. She ran out of the circle before the pretty Indian girl could point a finger at her. William called her name, at least she thought he did, but she couldn't stay there.

Not with Turner gazing at her like that.

* * *

Yumi's cell phone rang as she was running into the forest. It was awfully hard to run in high-heeled shoes, so the ringing mobile was an excuse to pause- just for a second. 

"Jeremie!" Yumi gasped, trying to catch her breath.

"Yumi, come to the factory- are you panting?" he asked incredulously.

Yumi looked around to make sure there were no unwanted visitors. "There was- XANA killed one of the students!" She could hear him cringe on the other line.

"Which one?" She knew he was thinking of Aelita and Ulrich and Odd.

"A freshman boy named Turner." There was an awkward pause.

Jeremie gulped. "Do you know if there are any other casualties?"

Yumi avoided the topic. "I'll be at the factory in a few minutes."

* * *

When Yumi stepped off the elevator, she noticed Jeremie furiously clacking away at his computer, muttering to himself. Odd was frantically punching numbers into his cell phone; he was desperate for not only news of this latest deadly attack, but also on the state of his dance date. Aelita was fast asleep with her head on Ulrich's lap. He was stroking her head to comfort her, but he himself looked as worried as ever. 

Yumi met Ulrich's glance and she nodded. "Jeremie, I'm going up to the scanners right now."

Odd raised an eyebrow at her. "He won't let us go up there. Well, he was going to, but you called and said Turnip died."

"It's Turner, Odd." As she said his name, it sounded as if she was that pretty little Indian girl shrieking out his name in fear and worry. Those eyes… why did she have to look in his eyes!

Odd shrugged and went back to trying to reach his girlfriend. Yumi met Ulrich's eyes and pointed at Aelita, mouthing, "What's wrong?"

He shrugged and whispered loudly, "She's so shaken up by this; she's trying to calm down." Ulrich just stared at Jeremie while waiting for his signal.

Jeremie didn't look anywhere but his computer screen as he systematically said, "Until I figure what were up against, no one is going into the scanners!"

It seemed hopeless. "There are more kids out there- we're just going to let them all die?"  
"Would you rather the entire world be taken over by XANA? I can have that arranged!"

Yumi growled. "I killed an innocent person out there."

Odd looked up from his cell phone. Aelita woke up. Ulrich dared not to move. Jeremie whipped his head around. "You did what?" his eyes grew large and frightening.

"Or should I have Odd call up on his cell phone and ask Charlotte or whatever her name is to see how many other people I killed?" Yumi's voice became more frantic; she could see the horror build in Jeremie's eyes. She approached him slowly. Every word she spoke was another step closer to Jeremie's shaking body, another step closer to letting the others live.

"Or maybe it would be correct to say that because you wouldn't let us go in the scanners, Turner died. Others are dying as we speak, I bet, Jeremie."

Ulrich couldn't move but he chimed in loud and clear. "Just let us go, Jeremie!" Odd had to add, "Why not, Einstein?"

Jeremie rubbed his temples and avoided Yumi's menacing glare. "I have this feeling that this is no ordinary XANA attack. Who knows what will happen if you die out there? There will be no one to protect LYOKO! XANA's playing a game that's meant for the big boys- not us little babies!"

Yumi stormed off to the elevator with Odd in her stride. "I'm going up to the scanners, Jeremie, whether you like it or not!" Odd didn't say anything, but Yumi knew that he was thinking the same thing.

* * *

Ulrich nudged Aelita awake. She didn't say anything, but she was on the point of tears. Her eyes were puffy and red, like the color of her dress, but her silence said all. 

He got up slowly (his back hurt from sitting in that position for so long) and noticed that Odd's cell phone lay near the elevator. "Huh, look at this, Jeremie!"

Jeremie slowly turned around. "Oh, the traitor's cell phone. Go on, call Charlotte and ask her how many more people have died. Go on, make me feel bad," his voice dripped with sarcasm.

Ulrich rolled his eyes and pressed the "call-back" button. There was an older boy's voice who answered, "Help!"

"William?" Of all the people to answer!

"Ulrich?" William seemed even more surprised. "Where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine-"

"Is Yumi with you?"

Ulrich paused. "She is here. We are… hiding out." There was a long pause and more screams could be heard in the background. "I guess there's not going to be a dance tonight."

"Oh my God," William interjected distractedly, "Priscilla's under a rock now!"

"William- how many people have died so far?" He tried to sound compassionate, but turned out sounding like a nosy news reporter.

There was static. "William!" Ulrich shouted, meeting Jeremie's concerned eyes. "William! Answer me, William!" He slowly hung up the phone and shook his head. "No signal."

Jeremie cricked his neck and nodded in Ulrich and Aelita's direction. "Ulrich, you take the princess. We have a world to save."

* * *

The gang was virtualized into the Desert region, along with their vehicles and heavy hearts. 

"Jeremie, just tell us what tower needs to be deactivated," Yumi begged, the vision of Turner's blue eyes haunting her incessantly.

Odd hopped aboard his over-board, Ulrich his over-bike, and Yumi her over-wing. Aelita was about to take a ride on Yumi's vehicle when suddenly she became hypnotized.

"Aelita!" Odd yelled as he tried to grab her as she went past him. But whatever was holding Aelita was dragging her so fast that not one of the team members could reach her.

It took many minutes to finally find Aelita, lying like a dead carcass in a merciless desert. Yumi couldn't remember who got there first, but they all came to the conclusion that someone or something was using an invisible force to drag along the helpless girl.

"Well, we could've figured that out about 17 kilometers ago!" Ulrich noted.

Aelita told them that she didn't feel threatened by the force. In fact, it was comforting. She heard the voice of Franz Hopper on her little excursion.

"He said… XANA was going to be destroyed provided we were on the good side. And that this would be the last battle… this would be the end!" That was all Yumi could remember.

The end. It was the end of LYOKO, the end of XANA, the end of fighting, the end of the camaraderie, the end of her secret double life, the end of her youth. It had to end sometime. It had to end if they won the battle. It had to end and never exist if Jeremie entered the very last "Return to the Past." But it was going to be the end for Turner and now Priscilla and others who weren't alive or going to be.

Yumi dragged Aelita onto her vehicle and motioned for the other guys to follow her. "The tower is over there- the pulsations are getting stronger!"

Odd rose above her. "Which tower?"

"The one with the red steam coming out of it? As usual?" Ulrich was amazed at Odd's inability to analyze and remember simple details.

Odd was insistent. "It looks like there's three towers activated now! Which one do we take?" The group halted at the fork with three paths, one for each tower.

Ulrich didn't say anything but zoomed to the right. Odd took the cue and bolted to the right. Yumi rocketed to the center and least guarded tower.

* * *

Five krabes circled the tower. Shooting at the over-wing, they did not seem to stop. Yumi zipped to the back of the tower and paused. 

"What are we going to do?" asked Aelita.

Yumi had a plan. She was going to zoom from the side of the tower where the monsters least expected her; at the right moment, she would whip her metal fan. With the right throw, the monsters would be sliced in half in just one throw. "Perfect," she smugly muttered as the plan played out in her mind.

"What?" asked Aelita.

Without another sound, Yumi came around the tower to the left. She leaned her vehicle and threw the fan. Just as she predicted, the fan sliced all of the monsters… but the fan kept going.

"Odd! Watch out!" she yelled as she watched the fan hurl closer and closer to Odd.

She could see his head perk up in the middle of his fierce battle with two tarantulas. He ducked, and Yumi watched the boomerang come back to her.

She caught the fan perfectly. She parked the over-wing and let Aelita deactivate the tower.

Odd was coming over by Yumi. "Are you mad at me, Odd? I didn't mean to!"

"Don't worry about it," he batted his hand at her, just as a laser arrow shot past her head and ricocheted off of one of the monsters Ulrich was fighting.

"What's going on?" Odd shook his hand, but thought better of it after the last time he moved his hand. Jeremie's voice interrupted their conversation.

"Okay, guys, two down and one to go. Why aren't you helping Ulrich?"

Yumi just had to wonder, "Aelita's still in the first tower! How could she possibly be in the second one?"

"EVE-10 is taking care of the far left one. Now go help Ulrich!" Odd needed no further goading and raced to help his friend with Yumi not far behind him.

It was a comical sight. Ulrich had used his clone ability to take on the plethora of monsters, which were already destroyed. Ulrich kept yelling, "Fusion! Fusion!" but the clones weren't listening. Instead, they were attacking the real Ulrich himself.

"Hang on, buddy!" Odd yelled as he shot laser arrows at the two menacing Ulrich clones. Yumi noticed that EVE-10 appeared to be flying into the tower that Ulrich was at.

"That's neat," she muttered happily. That meant all the towers were deactivated- that meant a return to the past- that meant things would go back to they way they were!

* * *

"I'm afraid it's not that easy, Yumi," Jeremie's voice answered. 

Odd retorted, "We need to return to the past, Jeremie! We can't let XANA win!"

Ulrich brushed off his outfit. "Well, then what do we need to do?"

"We wait."

Yumi was incredulous. "We wait? For what? For XANA to come over to us and hand us the keys to LYOKO?"

"Basically, yes!"

"In the meantime, Jeremie, let's go back in time," pleaded Ulrich as Aelita came out of the middle tower. Ulrich abandoned his bike and took a ride on Odd's over-board so the three could go by their stranded friend.

* * *

Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi sat around the inactivated tower, waiting for Jeremie to reverse time. Jeremie admitted that he didn't know what the consequences would be if they did reverse time, but he also knew that leaving his friends out in LYOKO could also be dangerous. 

Yumi stood up and looked around her. There was neither a monster nor an activated tower in sight. She stared up at the perpetually orange sky, knowing that Jeremie would hear everything she was about to say. "Jeremie, for the sake of all living things on Earth, please reverse time. I will never ask for anything ever again if you reverse time."

Jeremie sighed reluctantly. "Return to the past- now!"

For the first time that night, she saw Turner's burning blue eyes close peacefully.

* * *

"Aelita! Don't ask anymore questions! I want you to stay away from the dance- and that's final!" Jeremie slammed his fist on the lunch table. It was the day of the dance, and worry was spreading throughout the group. 

The pink-haired girl looked dejected, but she tried to smile. "I guess I can wear my dress another time." She glanced at Ulrich. "And you'll have to find someone else to go to the dance with."

Ulrich bit his lip and scanned the cafeteria. There was no girl he could think of that didn't have a date to the dance. Even the ugliest girl- Cassidy- had a date to the dance!

Apparently, he wasn't the only one. Odd raced to the table, breathless, his purple shirt stained with sweat.

Jeremie had to know, "Did you just get out of P.E.?"

"No- I can't find Charlotte anywhere!" He stared at Aelita, unblinking. "Was she in your class this morning?"

Aelita hummed for a bit and bit her fingernail unconsciously. "As a matter of fact, no. I thought she was sick or something."

Odd covered his face with his hands. "What am I going to do?" He shook Ulrich violently. "What if Charlotte didn't make it back to the return to the past?" he yelled.

Ulrich was too shaken to respond, but the others let out a gasp. Yumi figured it was possible, but would XANA really hit so low? Or was it an accident- or even caused by the gang themselves?

Jeremie reached over and patted Odd on the shoulder. "It's okay, she'll turn up eventually."

But Yumi noticed the look on his face wasn't too convincing.

* * *

So Aelita hung back with Jeremie the night of the dance; he read magazines while she stared off into space lonely as could be. 

Ulrich was with Odd, not as a date, but looking for Charlotte in the crowd. Nobody seemed to notice the girl was even gone.

Sissy, dressed in a frilly white dress similar to that of a bridal gown put in a high-speed dryer, approached the two comrades with as much grace as a footless swan.

"Hello, Ulrich dear!" she flittered. "I thought you were going with Aelita."

He shook his head. "She wasn't feeling well."

"Oh, that's a pity. Did she see Odd's face or did she try having a conversation with him?"

Odd tried to suppress his anger, but it was difficult. "Well, I thought you were going as Frankenstein's bride!" Ulrich tried to stifle his laughter.

She ignored him. "Ulrich, dear, why aren't you going with Yumi?" And then the final blow- "Oh that's right! She's going with William! Sorry you'll never have her, Ulrich," she mocked in pity.

He clenched his fist and muttered, "Sorry you'll never fall in love, you ugly good-for-nothing-"

Sissy started to sob; and without her flunkies to comfort her (they were with their dates), she ran away to somewhere in the midst of the crowd.

Odd brushed his hands. "Good work, Ulrich! But now we have a Charlotte to find!"

* * *

William wasn't answering his cell phone. Yumi left him a message, but he never returned her call. She met him where she told him to meet her, right under the willow next to the science building. 

She opened her purse and glanced at her cell phone tucked inside. Five minutes before the boulder would've fallen, and by this time, she should have talked to William. _Where was he?_

* * *

Jeremie was the first one to ring Odd. "Come to the factory- there's another attack!" 

"But what about Charlotte?" he whined.

"No time. We'll find her on the return trip."

Odd gulped. "What if there is none?"

There was silence. "I promise there will be a return trip. Now hurry, before anyone else gets hurt!"

* * *

Yumi got the phone call next, just as she spotted William. He was meters ahead of her, and she called out his name. 

He spun around, looking spiffy in his suit and tie. "Well, hello, Yumi," he smiled and looked into her eyes.

"Why didn't you return my calls?" she tried not to sound anxious. The phone kept ringing in her purse.

He frowned. "I never got your calls. I left messages on your cell phone, too."

"Huh," she replied, while picking up her ringing cell. "Hello?"  
"Yumi!" Jeremie yelled. "Where have you been?"

She chuckled. "I'm at the dance, just like everybody else!" William had a sense of urgency in his eyes, like he had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

Yumi listened intently. "There's another attack. XANA's made a two-layer- maybe even more- of this boulder-attack. You have to come back to the factory right away!"

Yumi responded with a mild, "Oh, that's horrible! I'll bring you a tampon right away, Jeremie!" She hung up the phone, kissed a petrified William on the cheek, and ran off towards the direction of the woods.

Jeremie, who had the phone on "speaker" so everybody could hear it in the factory, was simply confused.

Ulrich gave him a funny look and began to laugh.

"Oh, ha, ha. I don't need a tampon, Ulrich!" he retorted while Odd and Aelita chimed in the laughter.

* * *

Yumi exited the elevator the laughter of everybody but Jeremie. "You know, Yumi, there are better ways to excuse yourself to the factory than saying that I need a tampon to William," he scolded. 

She shrugged and grinned. "I know." She pivoted and went back into the elevator as the three warriors followed behind her.

"But now I can die happy knowing that I embarrassed you completely and entirely." The elevator doors shut and Jeremie's jaw dropped.

* * *

"Okay, so we just have to deactivate the tower, right?" Odd said. 

"Right," said Jeremie, as the four friends zoomed over the vast mountain region. Aelita squeezed Yumi's waist tighter as the geisha sped up her over-wing to match the speed of Odd's over-board.

"The tower is- you see that big flat rock that looks like an oval?"

Ulrich was the first to spot it. "You betcha. Let me guess, tower's over there?"  
"You betcha," came the happy reply. This was going to go smoothly.

Odd came to the site first. He yelled back to Yumi and Aelita, "Go to the tower so I can get back to finding Charlotte!"

Yumi waved at him, acknowledging his plea. But she crashed her over-wing into an invisible wall.

Aelita and Yumi both fell about seven stories with ten points' damage as Jeremie reminded them. They stood at where their over-wing had crashed, but on the flat rocky mountain. Looking up, it seemed as if there had been nothing there.

Odd noticed that they weren't following him. He made a quick U-turn and found them rubbing their rumps and staring into space.

"Lovely ladies they make, don't they?" he mused to nobody in particular. Aelita chuckled.

Yumi spoke up. "There's something up there that I crashed my wing into. But I can't figure it out!"

"Let me see-"

"No!" both girls shouted. Aelita continued. "I bet it's some sort of invisible coating on a mountain. Something of XANA's doing."

"I hope that's the only thing that's invisible," Yumi sighed as Jeremie re-materialized their vehicle.

* * *

Ulrich skid his bike into the middle of the stone field. "Jeremie, where are the monsters?" 

Jeremie answered, "Oh, they're there. I can see them on my screen!"

Ulrich scanned the field left to right slowly. "Nope, no monsters." He jumped off his over-bike.

"Be careful, Ulrich; don't just run to the tower!" But before Jeremie could finish his sentence, Ulrich ran into the middle of the field.

"Look ma! No monsters!" he smiled and put out his hands mockingly.

Before he could even laugh at his joke, he was attacked and de-virtualized by lasers that came from nowhere.

* * *

"Odd, Yumi, Aelita!" 

"What, Jeremie?"

"Ulrich's been de-virtualized by the field!"

They rode in stunned silence. "The field?" asked Yumi, thinking how bad this portion of logic was.

"Well, maybe XANA is using the invisible card and messing everything up for the good guys!" said Odd sarcastically.

"Odd!" gasped Jeremie happily. "You're a genius!"

Odd bowed as the trio approached the field. "I know."

* * *

Yumi listened to Jeremie intently. There were monsters, invisible ones that would shoot at anyone or anything. And until a monster was encountered, the LYOKO warriors wouldn't know what they were up against. The tower was guarded by three monsters, but twenty more were scattered across the field. 

"XANA's getting good or getting smart," Odd replied thoughtfully.

"Or maybe he's getting more evil," murmured Aelita, her face paler than usual.

* * *

_(A.N.- I am fully aware that this chapter hasn't ended. If you point this out to me in the review, I will think evil thoughts in your general direction. By the way, the chapter was so long that it had to be broken down into multiple parts. Thanks for your patience. **s.joann.c.**)_


	4. Part 3B

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Time Change **(continued)

Ulrich emerged from the scanners, somewhat startled but mostly wondering how in the world he could have been de-virtualized so easily. It didn't seem fair, he thought, that the rest of the gang was in LYOKO.

He ran to Jeremie to tell him that he wanted to go back.

* * *

"Jeremie, we're here!" gasped Aelita from the back of the over-wing. The field appeared empty, but they all knew that there were monsters scattered across the field- faceless, soulless, merciless. 

Yumi sped up her over-wing and halted Odd in his tracks. "I have a battle strategy," she said matter-of-factly in a low voice.

"You call this a battle? I call it all in a day's work," he beamed as Aelita giggled.

"Okay, here it is," she paused for a dramatic effect, "I want you to start shooting things at random."

There was a long awkward moment of silence. "You're serious?"

"Totally. You do that, and I'll get Aelita into the tower." Odd took the hint and sped off into the open field.

* * *

Yumi had a different problem. XANA had coated everything so that it was invisible, and she could clearly remember how she crashed into the invisible mountain. She couldn't speed and go around; if she crashed, then she would lose more life points than she could afford. 

Of course, scooting above the open field was dangerous as well. There wouldn't be any mountains to crash into, but the monsters would surely corner Yumi and Aelita and knock the pair into de-virtualization…

… or worse.

* * *

"Ulrich!" Jeremie exclaimed, mildly surprised. Then, more smugly, "Didn't I tell you there were monsters?" 

The brown-haired boy was still in his suit and tie, albeit disheveled, and at Jeremie's remark he scratched his neck humbly. "Okay, you win," he muttered.

"Are you going back?" Jeremie turned back to his computer to check the status on the three that remained in LYOKO.

Ulrich stared google-eyed at Jeremie. "Go back? That's never been done before!"  
"Well, what harm could it do? Let me check to see if your stats are back to normal." A few clicks of the keyboard and Jeremie shook his head.

"It's okay. I'm sort of exhausted anyway," he slumped down near the foot of Jeremie's computer chair. He stretched his arms out and let out a yawn. "Jeremie, how's Yumi?"

Jeremie perked up but didn't move his eyes from the screen. "Uh, she's lost ten of her life points from crashing the over-wing. Other than that, she's sort of zooming around aimlessly- Yumi!" he shouted at the computer. "What are you doing?" he screeched.

Ulrich jumped up startled. The screen showed the over-wing making figure eights and sharp turns- but the vehicle was moving more slowly than anything else. But Ulrich noticed that the monsters and Odd were on the complete other side of the screen.

"Yumi!" Ulrich whispered loudly.

"What?" her voice grumbled through the speaker.

"What in God's name are you doing?" Jeremie finished Ulrich's thought. Ulrich loosened the tie in his shirt.

"Trying to figure a way out of here," Yumi replied flatly. "I need to get to the tower, but I don't know what the best way is to get there," she admitted sheepishly.

What interrupted their conversation was the ring-ba-ring-ring of a mobile. "Ring-ba-ring-ring!" it shrilled again as Ulrich spotted it across the room.

"Odd's cell phone!" he cried as he raced to answer it. He picked it up and answered, "Hello?"

* * *

"Yumi, we don't have much time!" Aelita complained. 

Yumi jerked the over-wing slowly. "I know, but I can't think of anything to get us through to that tower!"

Aelita removed her hands from Yumi's waist and put them together as if in prayer. Her voice, loud and clear, was like a beacon that summoned the rocks from the field upward. A ridge bumped up from one end of the field and a giant hole appeared at the base of the tower.

Yumi halted the vehicle. "What is that?"

Aelita closed her mouth while opening her eyes. "It's a tunnel," she responded after a few moments. "There's a small opening near us- can you see it? Now we should be able to reach the tower quickly and without any monsters!"

Yumi laughed, "Wow, you're just as smart as Odd- only I know that you actually are smarter than him!" She nose-dived the over-wing, sped it up, and turned into the tiny tunnel entrance.

* * *

"Wow, this is a great battle strategy, guys," said as Odd sarcastically as he got hit with yet another laser. 

"Hold on there, big guy," replied Jeremie. "Yumi and Aelita are on their way to the tower- though I'm not really sure how they did it."

Odd harrumphed and fired five laser arrows one right after another. "Good for them- what about me?"

Ulrich interrupted them. "Well, Odd, your girlfriend called. She's breaking up with you."

"Oh, really?" Odd answered as casually as he could. "I never liked her anyway. Wait- why did she break up with me?" Another seven lasers were fired and two block monsters exploded.

"Well, she said something about you ditching her as the boulders were raining." Normally, this sentence would have sounded bad out of context, but Odd remembered that he was in LYOKO to fight off indirectly the invisible rocks XANA had sent from the sky above Kadic High School.

"Now wait a minute. We were looking for her- remember?" Another block exploded.

Ulrich coughed. "Yeah, but technically you ditched her. I don't blame her for hiding back in her dorm."

Odd glared at the invisible field. "Oh well, I'll move on and find another girl. I don't need her."

"Suit yourself," sighed Ulrich with a smirk on his face. "Charlotte, Odd's busy right now. He'll call you back later."

He hung up the cell phone and rested under Jeremie's chair.

* * *

"Jeremie! We made it!" exclaimed Aelita as she emerged from the tunnel with Yumi. "Get the return to the past ready!" 

"Good job, ladies. Yumi, I'll de-virtualize you as soon as Aelita gets into the tower."

Yumi grinned. Another successful mission, and soon she would get to go to the dance. "Boy, Jeremie this was really easy for us- _aah_!"

A massive headache washed over her; she nearly fell off the over-wing. She sensed that something wasn't going as planned, something wasn't right… what was going on?

"Yumi!" Jeremie's voice called from the sky.

"I- I-" she struggled for the words, but she couldn't get them out. She heard Ulrich's voice next. "Jeremie will get you out of there as soon as possible, I promise."

"You promise?" replied Jeremie, surprised. "I thought I was supposed to make the promises that I would have to keep- not you."

* * *

Jeremie was interrupted by Aelita's crystal voice. "I entered the code Jeremie." She was annoyed at the lack of attention he was giving her. 

A cough of embarrassment. "Return to the past now!"

* * *

Ulrich met them by the towers. Yumi was out first, but with a splitting migraine. "Oh, my head," she groaned as she slumped out of the tower. 

Odd was next, followed by Aelita. Odd was plumb exhausted, and Aelita was just tired. It had been a long (and repetitive) day for the gang. Only Ulrich seemed to be rested, but not by much.

"Yumi, what's wrong?" asked Odd who seemed concerned. He put his hand on her shoulder but she didn't move her hand from her temples.

"I just got this massive headache and-" her head jolted up and her eyes glared straight ahead- "there's something wrong. I know it."

Ulrich offered a shoulder to support her; her periwinkle dress was wrinkled and torn, but he thought she still looked beautiful (she could see it in his troubled eyes). "You're probably just exhausted, that's all," he tried to simplify the matter.

"What time is it now?" she looked at Jeremie who emerged from the elevator.

Jeremie shrugged his shoulders and looked at his watch. "According to this, it's seven o'clock. That's strange. I put in a return to the past…"

Odd grew wide eyed. "Oh no! That means Charlotte's still mad at me!

Yumi realized what he was saying and gasped. "Oh my God- _Turner_!" She bolted from the tower room and raced out of the factory, all the while visualizing Turner's icy blue stare.

* * *

The dance was canceled. When Yumi came back, she found absolutely no one on campus. Except for Turner's Indian girlfriend sobbing on the steps of the gymnasium. But Yumi couldn't look at her… 

She raced on and saw more and more people… a group of senior girls wept on each other's shoulders. "Why?" they cried and moaned.

The majority of the students were crowded around something- she couldn't see what. As she approached them, they all turned and glared at her with cold hard stares- with the same eyes that Turner had as he passed on into another life:

Cold, lifeless, accusing, unforgiving.

The ambulances made no noises even though the lights flashed and they zoomed from the school grounds to the hospital. In fact, she could've sworn that the ambulances disappeared into oblivion.

And the group parted ahead of her, like two doors, and showed the fruits of her labor in LYOKO. There he lay, exactly as if he were standing next to her and complimenting her dress, but with those same eyes as Turner. Why did everybody have those eyes?

She wanted to scream and call out his name, but she was suffocated by his heavy breathing. All she could hear was his heart, even though it was nowhere near her.

And as she watched the ambulance drivers take him away to the rhythm of his heartbeat, she broke down and cried under the unforgiving eyes.

* * *

It was 9:05. 


	5. Part 3C

_Thanks to Rycr for pointing out… things…  
_

_and this part (I don't know if it's finished or not) is dedicated to my biggest fans. Thanks guys!_

_Happy Reading! _

**Part Three: Remembrance**

**Chapter Twenty-Three: Comfort Zone**

Someone knocked softly on Aelita's door. Aelita wasn't sleeping, but this unexpected knock almost scared her. She quickly bounced out of bed and answered the door. "Oh, hello," she murmured in surprise.

Yumi nodded, tears running down her face. "Can you sleep?"

Aelita shook her head. "I've been thinking about… things…"

"Oh," Yumi's face fell. Aelita pulled Yumi inside the dark dorm room and turned on the soft light in her room.

Yumi turned around, surprised that Therese hadn't said anything about her unexpected visit. But, the bed was made and it didn't look like anyone had slept there. "So she's not back yet, huh?"

Again, Aelita shook her head. She was missed Therese. Therese had been the sister she never had, even if she did take Odd. Someday, Aelita thought to herself, she will find true love like Odd and Therese did.

Yumi cleared her throat, eager to break the awkward silence. "I had an interesting dream not too long ago."

"Oh?" Aelita stopped twiddling her fingers. "Is that why you came? Is it about the hermitage or the factory or…"

"Not quite, Aelita."

Yumi began her story from as far back as she could remember it. And she didn't finish until the wake-up bell rang at six o'clock.

**Chapter Twenty-Four: For the Record**

Odd joined his buddies Ulrich and Jeremie at the breakfast table. His hair was ragged, his eyes had huge circles underneath them, and his face looked more pale than usual.

"Odd, you look horrible!" Jeremie said in shock, as if nobody at Kadic would even dare to walk outside in such a state.

"Lighten up, will ya?" Ulrich hissed at Jeremie.

Odd brushed the two of them aside with a swipe of the hand. "It's okay. I'm sure she'll turn up somewhere." He sighed dejectedly and laid his head down on the table in failure.

Yumi and Aelita appeared at the table not long after. Yumi stared hard at Odd. She was about to say something, but decided against it and sat down quietly.

Jeremie murmured a distant "hello" to Aelita and started searching through his backpack furiously. "Where is it?" he muttered angrily to himself.

"Where's what?" said Ulrich through a mouthful of cantaloupe.

"My notebook- and don't talk with your mouth full."

Ulrich chewed slowly while being the brunt of Jeremie's joke. It didn't matter because he heard Odd laughing for the first time since yesterday. But yesterday felt like weeks ago.

Jeremie pulled out his notebook with as much glamour when Arthur pulled the sword from the stone, but nobody seemed to notice him. He frantically flipped through the pages and landed on one with a bang of his fist. "Aha! Found it!"

"Found what?" inquired Aelita.

"The page," he said matter-of-factly. He began to read the page thoroughly.

Ulrich peered across the table and tried to read the notebook. "Is that your journal? I have a journal too, but…"

"Stop talking with your mouthful! Now you're getting cornflakes all over my reports!"

"Well," he swallowed, "what kind of reports?"

"They're reports of all our adventures to LYOKO, complete with XANA attacks. I tell what the problem is on Earth, what the problem is on LYOKO, who gets virtualized, important things, and then I name the missions various things. It's a good reference for when I draw parallels for each time-"

"You even have the report for when I was in the forest and I totally used the over-board to crash into the tower and I kicked the butts of five monsters and de-virtualized Yumi all at the same time?" Odd perked up excitedly.

Jeremie eyed Odd over his glasses. "Yes," Jeremie's lips tightened. "I called that one 'Odd's Stupid Idea.'"

Everyone, even Odd, laughed at that. "What?" Jeremie was being serious. "It's true!"

And they finished their breakfast quickly so they could go to class.

**Chapter Twenty-Five: History Class**

Odd, Jeremie, and Ulrich were sitting in history class listening to a boring lecture on the art of sword fighting and its history.

"When two people are about to fight, it's just like in karate. They give each other respect by bowing before the first thrust is given. Does anyone know gives the first thrust?"

"The defender," Sissy raised her hand and called out before the professor had a chance to call on her. Sissy's new tactic to get Ulrich's attention was to be intelligent, and she hoped he was paying attention. She looked behind her and saw that he wasn't.

"Very good, Sissy," the professor responded. "The person who accepted the challenge of a fight gets to go first. After that, it's fair game. Now what happens when the fight is over?"

A history buff named David raised his hand quietly. When the professor nodded, he gave his answer. "Well, the duel is over when one of the fighters cannot fight back. If the winner is merciless, such as back in the old days, the winner will keep fighting until the loser dies. If the winner is merciful, he will help the loser or maybe he'll help the loser commit suicide."

The professor nodded again. "Thank you, David. That's exactly right. Can-" The bell rang and the students filed out the door.

"There's no homework tonight, students!" the professor called. Ulrich shouted with glee. He had absolutely no homework tonight.

"Do you find it interesting that we are talking about sword fighting while we're learning about the peaceful artistic age?" inquired Jeremie.

Odd shrugged. "No."

Jeremie hummed and hawed, and let the matter drop.

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Ulrich's Freedom**

History was the last class of the day. It was only the second day of school, Ulrich remembered, being he had so much homework last year at this time. He enjoyed his freedom, albeit temporary. It seemed like forever since he had time to himself. Perhaps he would read a book, go outside for a walk…

Ulrich just arrived in his dorm room by himself when he heard his mobile ring. He picked it up gingerly, and when he answered it, his worst fears were confirmed.

"Oh, Jeremie, do we have to?" Ulrich whined while smoothing out his hair.

"Yes, Ulrich, we have to. It's XANA we're talking about here. This isn't your chemistry homework!" Aelita shouted, "Hey!" in the background while Yumi and Jeremie laughed.

"Fine," Ulrich lost the argument. "I'll be right there." He hung up his mobile, straightened his black tee, and strolled outside the empty dorm.

**Chapter Twenty- Seven: The Notebook**

Jeremie, Yumi, and Aelita crowded around the notebook that had appeared at breakfast. Jeremie was staring at the page, trying to figure out what went wrong with the last return to the past.

"You know, I think it's XANA's doing," Yumi walked away from them to comfort Odd who was sulking on the wall opposite of them.

"I know- but what did he do? Let's work out the details." Aelita watched intently as Jeremie scribbled down in the notebook:

_**EVE-10 goes missing.**_

_**Therese follows Aelita to factory.**_

_**Virtualized: Aelita, Yumi, and Ulrich.**_

_**Found EVE-10. Deactivate tower. Return to the past.**_

_**Returned to one hour before tower is activated.**_

_**What went wrong: I have no clue.**_

"Jeremie, you're beating yourself up over this. We'll get it, I promise." Aelita closed the notebook quietly in his hands. Ulrich opened the elevator doors and motioned for the rest of the gang to follow him.

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Painful Transfer**

All four of them were virtualized. Ulrich cracked the small of his back and his neck while Yumi twisted around to get all the cricks out of her back. "Geez, Jeremie, that was painful!" Ulrich cried.

"Tell me about it," said Odd as he rotated his left arm back into the shoulder socket. "I think our scanners need to get replaced."

"We are not replacing any scanners," Jeremie groaned. The vehicles appeared but the gang didn't go on them. "What are you waiting for?"

Yumi went up to her over-wing and touched it gingerly. "How do we know that these won't crash on their own?"

"Just get on them!" he yelled impatiently. "What if XANA launches an attack on Earth?"

Aelita asked, "Where's EVE-10?"

"He's devirtualizing towers in the ice sector. Now go!"

**Chapter Twenty-Nine: Monsters**

There the tower stood like a grand watchtower over the forest land. It glowed a deep hue of red. It was a temple which block monsters and krabes swayed in the ancient dances to which their ancestors were under XANA's control.

The monsters turned slowly to see the three vehicles approaching them. The monsters wasted no time to follow out XANA's orders: kill the Earthlings. Kill the Earthlings. Kill the Earthlings!

But no matter how many times the monsters fought, they never could win. And those monsters that survived but didn't carry out the mission- it was rumored among the monsters that XANA was merciless.

Luckily, not one of them survived. The monsters had allegiance to XANA, but paid loyalty to their own selfish desires.

**Chapter Thirty: Missing**

"Aelita's deactivating the tower, Jer," Yumi called up to the calm skies in the forest sector. "Do you-"

Ulrich came up behind her and put his arm on her shoulder. "I need to talk to you, Yumi."

Yumi looked around to see if Odd was in earshot. He wasn't- in fact, he wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Ulrich? Where's Odd?"

Ulrich turned around and using his tiptoes to see if he could find his friend. "No clue," he admitted.

"Guys? What's going on down there?" called Jeremie.

"Uh, nothing!" lied Yumi as she pulled Ulrich closer to her face. "We can't let Jeremie know that Odd is missing! He'll kill us if he knows we weren't paying attention to him. After all, he might've committed suicide or something!"

Ulrich nodded silently and went to board his over-bike. "I'll go left and you go right," he pointed at the fork that went slightly to the left of the tunnel. Yumi nodded this time and sped off on her over-bike.

**Chapter Thirty-One: A Sign**

Odd had to just get away from his friends. They meant well, but his head was throbbing with all that was going on. Therese had gone missing, but nobody even really noticed. He loved Therese- why was she taken away from him?

So onward he traveled: past the tower and into the heart of the woods. It felt good to sit in the silence. A sort of calm came over Odd as he rested on a fallen log.

He looked around at how empty the forest was. Empty, but beautiful. Desolate, but calm. He could live out here forever…

When he opened his eyes from his little catnap, Odd saw Ulrich and Yumi were hovering over him. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Why did you run off like that? You had us worried!" Yumi scolded with a smile.

"Am I in trouble or are you just messing with me?" Odd asked because of the mixed signal he received from Yumi.

"Just don't tell Jeremie you ran off by yourself- he'd have our heads!" Ulrich added.

Odd was about to respond, but he forgot what he was going to say. Something silvery shone in the corner of his eye. He turned around slowly.

"Why is Therese naked in that bubble?" he pointed as Yumi and Ulrich gasped.

There she was, Therese Patterson, with eyes closed and a peaceful smile. She was naked, but her long blonde hair covered her most sensitive parts while flowing freely around her. She had her arms crossed so the hands touched the opposite shoulder. Therese was in her full glory and even more beautiful by the silver bubble that enclosed her.

"So that's where she went!" Yumi whispered aloud. Ulrich noticed that it wasn't like the orange-glowed orb that XANA kept Yumi in once upon a time. Nonetheless, he felt brave enough to stroll up to Therese.

Odd noticed that Ulrich seemed entranced by this shiny new object, so he raced past the samurai and touched Therese first. As he did, a soft yellow light surrounded him and the bubble. The next moment, she was gone and so was the light.

"Odd! You have 200 life points!" Jeremie was in shock. "What did you do?" Whatever Odd did, it held the secret for keeping the gang on LYOKO longer.

"Therese!" Odd whispered as he tried to choke back the tears.

"Jeremie! It _was_ Therese! She was in this bubble- and Odd touched her- and she's gone!"

"Oh that's a good one guys…"

Ulrich spoke next. "It's true! It was as if she were sleeping or something. And she didn't have any clothes on…"

"Hang on… de-virtualization!"

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Questions**

Aelita and Jeremie was a captive audience to all three sides of the story. Yumi saw Therese simply in a silver-tinted bubble. Ulrich saw a beautiful girl sleeping and the soft light. Odd experienced touching Therese and feeling the warm, soft light. Jeremie and Aelita stayed back at the factory while the three warriors went back to their rooms to get rested for whenever XANA would attack next.

Jeremie mused. "I have a feeling Franz Hopper took our dear friend." Aelita looked at him sideways while scanning the notebook.

"During the return to the past, Jeremie?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but trust me; why else would touching Therese help Odd instead of hurt him?"

Aelita closed the notebook. "So if she's on LYOKO, where would she be on Earth? Truly, people are looking for her. We can't keep returning to today; we might destroy the super computer!"

Jeremie slumped in his chair while rubbing his temples. "What bugs me is that I can't figure out how she got there or why she is there."

Aelita patted his shoulder. "I'm sure we'll find out eventually. I'm just glad she's okay."

**Chapter Thirty-Three: Ulrich and Yumi**

Yumi and Ulrich sat on one of the benches outside the dormitories. There was hardly anyone walking around at this hour on campus, so they had the privacy they wanted.

"On LYOKO," Yumi started.

"Yeah, about that…" Ulrich faltered for the right words and he nervously patted his thigh. "Well, how long as it been since 'the incident'?" he asked, his voice so low it was almost hard to hear him.

She brushed her sleek black hair behind her ears. "A year and a few months," she guessed.

Ulrich took her hand. "I bet you still feel bad-"

Yumi glared at him and took back her hand. "I tried to forgive and forget it myself, Ulrich."

"Oh, that's not what I meant…" he groaned. He sighed and started over, "What I meant to say is- who's the new girl?" His eyes followed the pretty red-head that walked by.

Yumi was stunned. She had thought he was going to say something else- but what would she say? Nothing. _Not until I can convince myself that William won't need me anymore._

She glanced over at the girl. "I dunno," she tried not to sound bitter, but instead sounded like she just didn't care.

Ulrich shook his head as if trying to get her out of his head. But he couldn't keep his eyes on Yumi. Yumi finally stood up and began to rant.

"If you're going to say something, just say it already!" she yelled.

But then Tamiya Diop, a black freshman, ran up to them and in a breathless voice asked, "Where's Milly?"

"I dunno," replied Ulrich. "Why?"

"Because a student died, and I need to borrow the video camera to tape the other's reactions!"

Ulrich's eyes popped open. "Who- who would that be?" Yumi closed her eyes, but her worst fears came true.

"William Dunbar." Tamiya spotted her friend in the distance and ran over to her, forgetting all about Ulrich and Yumi.

Yumi fell back on to the bench, her normally white face getting paler by the second. She broke down on Ulrich's shoulder and sobbed forever.

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Moving On**

Yumi had never been to a funeral before. The whole day was like in her dream; some parts blurry, some parts crystal clear. She saw how many people were there. She saw how many people really cared about William. She saw how many people believed that he was getting stronger.

She admitted that she hadn't seen him in weeks; she had been busy with other things. She felt dirty, like she was cheating on him by thinking about Ulrich. But now there was no William. However, there was still Ulrich.

Ulrich was at William's funeral, too. She noticed how depressed he was about this- or was it now he was going to win her heart by the way he never dreamed of? She saw him praying at the side of the open casket. She wanted to comfort him, but she decided against it.

He left and wiped the tears off of his cheek.

Ulrich hadn't cried since his mother's funeral. And he didn't want to be seen crying again. He never really cared for William; but he cared about him. There was a difference.

The face inside the casket appeared the same way it did since his only visit to the hospital. The only difference was that this one wore a formal suit instead of a hospital gown and lifelines.

Ulrich started to tear up again. He hid his face by pretending to pray, although he himself was a witness that there was no God. If there was a God, He sure wasn't a merciful one.

As he left William's side, he noticed that Yumi was right behind him. Even in her sadness, she was still stunning.

Yumi placed the white rose she held tightly on the plan brown casket. She was the last one to do so, and the undertaker was getting angry that she was forestalling his work.

"Ahem!" he cleared his throat loudly.

Yumi was startled and quickly thought of something to say a hurried goodbye. She touched his casket and whispered, "You'll be in my heart always, William, no matter what."

She hurried off the burial plot and when she got to the main road, she began to walk quite a-ways to where Ulrich's car was parked.

**Chapter Thirty-Five: Aelita's Observation**

"It's September 17th. I am worried about Odd. He acts like everything is okay, but he hasn't been himself. There are no more jokes, no more music, and certainly no more sparkle. But it gets worse. Nobody seems to notice Therese is missing, and we certainly don't want to raise any alarms over it. It has been 15 days since her disappearance. It has been 15 days since William's death. It has been 15 days since we went to LYOKO.

"Jeremie is convinced there is a connection, but I do not see one. After all, Yumi told me this past summer that people die without XANA around. Speaking of Yumi, I am wondering if she is okay.

"She hasn't been sad over William's death. I bet she's waiting for Ulrich to ask her out. I think she should wait a while longer before going with him. The dance is just days away, and if I were her, I would just not go. But I'm not.

"Ulrich has been keeping an eye out for this feisty young red-head. He told me the details- which I'm impressed because he never tells me anything- but he doesn't know her name. I'm glad personally that he's moving on- why can't I?

"Love, Aelita.

"P.S. - I still love Odd, and I won't ever, EVER move on."

**Chapter Thirty-Six: A Second Meeting**

"Fool!" XANA's voice thundered as it shook the world around him.

The white cloud across from him emitted no sign of surrender. "You were so close to winning with your invisibility magic trick," he mocked to the red cloud.

"It was no magic trick; if I recall, I managed to kill three students," XANA boated.

Franz Hopper, the white cloud, didn't care. "And yet, my daughter and her friends manage to beat you and your pathetic army of toy monsters. I think this is a sign of your weakness, my friend. You can give up now and I'll be compassionate with you."

"Ha!" XANA bellowed as he began to circle Sector-5. "You are foolish indeed. You could never destroy me!"

"Do you want me to destroy you?"

"How would you manage to do that, Franz Hopper?" ridiculed XANA.

The white cloud moved opposite of XANA. "I created you, I can find a way."

A chuckle from XANA, and then, "Well, if you destroy me, then you destroy your precious daughter as well. I have no problems with that."

Franz Hopper laughed now. "So, speaking of this duel, you're ultimate plan is to make me destroy Aelita? That's the equivalent of giving me a notice that you're going to jab me in the shoulder! You are pathetic!"

"But I-" The clouds stopped moving.

"Oh, my favorite was kidnapping that Therese girl who came into the factory… and then instead of giving her a virus and killing off the gang, you manage to make her like a life token! XANA, you are a riot!"

XANA was beginning to fume. Franz continued, laughing all the while, "Oh! And then you kill off her parents so people will be looking for the factory and the gang and then I'll be finished! Well guess what? So will I! And I don't mind dying."

The red cloud said nothing and floated into the walls of the sector. But before he left, he shouted out, "These peaceful days are over, Franz Hopper! I, too, am prepared to win and die!"

**Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Truth, Revealed**

"Ulrich, are you still going to the dance?" asked Yumi quietly at lunch. "My, uh, parents want to know."

"Yup," he said cheerfully as he opened up a packet of ketchup to put on his bland chicken patty.

Odd was next to speak up. "Yeah, he's going with…_oomph_!" Ulrich had elbowed Odd in the side without even stopping his smile at Yumi.

Yumi didn't say anything and sipped her iced tea. Odd cringed in silence, fearing that Ulrich would elbow him once more.

"Are you going?" Ulrich asked, trying to make conversation with her. Aelita, who just arrived at the table, responded with a hearty "You betcha!"

"And you, Yumi?"

"I guess I _was_…" She got up and left quickly.

Jeremie noticed that she did not take her tray. "God, I hate when she does that!" he complained, while everybody who remained at the table laughed.

* * *

"Yumi, wait!" Ulrich called. He just caught her as she was about to go into the restrooms near the entrance of the trail into the woods.

She was clearly irritated, but stopped anyway. "What?"

"I want to clear something up."

She eyed him. "I'd like to hear this one."

He took a deep breath and began. "I was going to ask you again to the autumn dance that day that William… I mean, when William…"

"Okay, I get it. He died. Get on with it," she was irritated.

Ulrich tried to get his train of thought back. "Well, I thought it would've been mean to ask you to the dance at William's funeral. I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend. But I've been thinking…"

Yumi cringed. It was always one heart-shattering thing after another.

"Well, I don't know if there's an easy way to put this. I don't know if I love you anymore. You've been tearing me apart since middle school. I've finally moved on."

Yumi tried to choke back the tears and just said, "I've got to go," as she hurried into the girl's bathroom.

**Chapter Thirty-Eight: Love Hurts**

Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita walked out of the cafeteria together, headed for the dorms before classes resumed again for the day.

"Boy, Odd, Yumi seemed pretty upset," Jeremie noticed.

"You'll never guess who he's taking to the dance!" Odd gleefully responded.

"Um, not Yumi…" Aelita replied.

"Correct! He's taking some mystery red-head. I've looked her up in the yearbooks, but the only other person with even close to red hair is Milly. But she's from around here, apparently," Odd rambled on.

Aelita had to know, "Who are you going with, Odd?" She blushed and averted her gaze.

Odd seemed taken aback. "I, uh, uh…"

"Would you like to go with me to the dance?" Aelita murmured excitedly and then quickly added, "But if you haven't moved-"

"Aelita, I've moved on. Therese is gone, but not completely. Anyway, I'd love to go to the dance with you."

The pink-haired girl did a skip-hop and hugged him tightly around his waist. He stopped walking. "Uh…" Maybe he did like Aelita after all…

She ran off to the left calling, "I have to go to class, guys! Thanks, Odd!"

Odd waved, "See ya, Princess."

He turned around and saw Jeremie's jaw open and his brows furrowed. "Princess!" Jeremie screamed.

"Yeah, that's what I always called her."

"You've really pushed the limits this time, Odd," Jeremie said through clenched teeth. His balled up his fist tighter and tighter.

Odd looked like he was about to say something, but Jeremie didn't let him even begin. He punched Odd in the mouth, causing some blood to spurt out.

Jeremie realized then what he had done. He had never caused harm to another person before; in fact, he didn't even mean to do it. It just sort of happened.

And Odd didn't throw a punch back. He was just in shock, touching his lips tenderly to check for traces of blood. Jeremie ran without waiting a second longer.

"At least I've moved on, Jeremie!" Odd called after him as the purple-shirted and bloody-mouthed boy trekked to the nurse's office.

**Chapter Thirty-Nine: Aelita and Jeremie**

"You did what!" squeaked Aelita. "How could you?" her voice was pleading. Tears welled up in her sparkling green eyes. Jeremie felt so terrible for making such a happy girl feel so bad.

He didn't say anything, wondering if it would be best if he never even came to her room later that evening. But it was just eating him up inside. He shook his head solemnly. A single tear fell down his cheek.

She led him on to the bed and sat him down firmly. She wiped the tear from his cheek gingerly. "Please don't cry, Jeremie. I'm sure your feelings just got the best of you," she half-smiled so a cute little dimple showed.

Jeremie sniffled and tried to talk again. He looked at the shy girl in a soft pink nightgown. Her hair was wet and she smelled like his mother's rose garden in the summertime. Reflecting off of the desk light, her eyes appeared to have the effect of the ocean in the summertime. She was so…

"Aelita! I love you!" Jeremie exclaimed as he kissed her firmly on those soft pink lips.

Her eyes closed and she softened under the spell of her first kiss.

**Chapter Forty: Pillow Talk**

"Okay, this is getting way out of hand," sighed Yumi as she collapsed on the bed where, just hours earlier, Aelita got her first kiss.

Aelita frowned. "I agree. I have no idea if Jeremie really hates Odd." She sat at the foot of the bed Indian-style.

"No clue. Does Odd even really love you?"

Aelita gasped and slapped a hand to her cheek. "I never even thought about that! What if he doesn't and he's just doing it to make Jeremie mad?"

"I doubt it. Do you know anyone who likes getting beat up? I sure don't."

"I don't love Jeremie! Why can't he just move on?"

Yumi closed her eyes and wiped her hair from her face. "Moving on sucks. I don't blame him."

"What do you mean?"

"Today, Ulrich told me he's moving on from me. From me!" She sighed despondently. "I thought he loved me…"

The two girls contemplated the complications of love while sitting solemnly under the soft glow of Aelita's desk light. And after awhile, they both fell asleep on the same bed, having no dreams because if you aren't in love, you don't have any dreams.


	6. Part 4

_Please Be Warned! This part may contain intense scenes not intended for younger readers. Read at your own risk.  
_

_Dedicated to TigerChic121, American Kitty, Lyokolady, and all the others!_

**Part Four: Be Prepared**

"_Life, created out of love._

_Death, created because of life._

_Love, never created,_

_Always existed."_

**Chapter Forty-One: A Final Farewell**

"Ladies and gentlemen," the principal announced over the D.J.'s microphone, "thank you all for making our first annual fall dance a success."

There was wild applause, but died down quickly. "We are here to celebrate the start of new school year, and we are here with our friends to do so. But we have to remember those friends who are not with us now.

"Perhaps you have seen outside the gym that there are three crosses. Around these crosses are toys, books, poems, and flowers; and all around the crosses are candles. If you would like to light a candle, please see Jim outside for the lighter.

"For you freshmen out there, this may be a new story for you. It was at the last spring dance when two of our beloved students mysteriously died by asphyxiation. Another student was hospitalized because he was in a coma, but he recently passed away. We speculate that there may have been a bombing of some kind, but we are not certain.

"Anyway, we are here to remember these three students' memories. My daughter Sissy, who is a junior here, will read the names of those deceased and hurt because of this mysterious attack." The room fell silent as Sissy took the microphone from her father.

"We salute those who were directly injured in the attacks at the last spring dance. Carina Tomir, junior. Harvey Slate, graduate…"

Odd was somewhat uncomfortable in his shirt and tie. He loosened it and glanced at Aelita, who was also clearly looking uncomfortable.

Nearby, Yumi sat at the punch bowl, wondering if anyone would love her, let alone dance with her.

And on the other side of the dance floor, Ulrich wrapped his arm around the waist of the red-head who he had been mysteriously hiding from the gang for so long.

"And now for those deceased. Turner Smith, freshman, died on the attack. Priscilla Ramon, senior, died on the attack. William Dunbar, junior, died on September 2nd of this year after being in a coma for many months. We salute you, Turner, William, and Priscilla. We will never forget you."

And from near the punch bowl, a slow clap began. It was a lone clap, but soon the entire dance floor began to clap faster and faster. Sissy turned off the microphone and wondered who on Earth would applaud for the three dead souls.

**Chapter Forty-Two: The Voice of Reason**

"Yeah, it was a fun dance, I thought," Yumi replied to Jeremie's comment while talking on their mobiles. She was walking home in the brisk autumn air alone, but still in Jeremie's company.

Jeremie clicked his tongue. "Well, you'll never drag _me_ to any dance."

"Then why were you upset when Aelita asked Odd to the dance?"

There was a long pause. Yumi opened the door to her house quietly as to not disturb her sleeping mother.

"The point is, I don't want Aelita with anyone but me," Jeremie said quietly.

Yumi slowly trod up the stairs. "Do you think she really loves you?" she knew, knowing perfectly well what the answer was.

"I love her- shouldn't that count?" Yumi fell back on her bed and let out a long breath.

"That doesn't count. She has to love you too. Well, I got to go," she pulled off one of her high-heeled shoes. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Jeremie sighed on the other end. "Thanks for the, um, talk. It helped put things into perspective."

Yumi closed her eyes and smiled to herself. "Anything for a friend, Jeremie. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye." It was the saddest farewell she had ever heard.

**Chapter Forty-Three: The Stars outside My Window**

Aelita and Odd were the last ones other than the chaperones to leave the dance floor. From a distance, they appeared to be contemplating the universe as they walked slowly from the gym.

However the talk was as easy-going as it had been that previous summer in Paris. "You aren't upset at Jeremie, Odd?"

"No, he has every right to give me a black eye. But hey, it's nearly gone now!" he replied excitedly to Aelita's solemn question.

Aelita chuckled, and Odd asked this time, "Why?"  
"I just don't want our friendships to be ruined, that's all," she defended. "And besides, I don't love Jeremie."

"Me neither," Odd joked. But when he saw Aelita wasn't laughing, he quickly changed his mood. "That's okay. Love is fleeting, always changing," he replied distantly.

"Are you in love?"

Odd shrugged and walked to a window near the doors to the outside. "I'm not sure," he said into the outside. The stars made the night a diamond blanket; it was so beautiful, and Aelita noted this too.

"And, Odd, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," she smiled without making eye contact at Odd but hardly looking at the crowded city of stars in the sky. He didn't say anything.

"I think I found true love."

Odd stumbled out of his trance at the stars and turned towards Aelita. "Where?"

She half-smiled so one of her dimples showed. "It's over there, but I think you just missed it!" she joked as she pointed outside and towards the star-studded sky.

Playing along with her joke, he turned around and leaned his hands on the windowsill. "I don't see it!"

"You don't need to," she whispered as she slipped her hand into his.

**Chapter Forty-Four: Girl**

"So this is my dorm," Ulrich opened the door slowly as he silently invited his guest in. The girl was a bit more outgoing; she bounced into the room causing the slinky black dress she was wearing to flutter outwards.

"I like it, Ulrich!" she giggled as she turned around quickly and landed on Ulrich's bed. Her hair was messy because she and Ulrich had been dancing, but he thought she looked sexy, not like any of the girls at Kadic.

He laughed at her. "You've got to be kidding me. This place is a dump! But I'm sure your dorm isn't much better."

She shook her head. "You've got that right!" Ulrich sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"It was a fun dance tonight, don't you think?" he gingerly touched her soft chin and led it so her eyes met his. She blushed under the surprise gesture.

"Yes," she whispered, "I had a wonderful time with you." She shivered happily as he pulled her body closer to hers. He could detect the faint smell of the same perfume as Yumi wore.

Why was he still remembering her? _Okay_, he tried to compose himself and focus on his date, _I can do this. One kiss, I'll be head over heels for her. I'll forget all about Yumi. I don't need_ her.

He smiled nervously at the red-head. She hadn't seemed to notice any sign of distress from Ulrich.

Her large cobalt-blue eyes dimly reflected Ulrich's face in them. Another red curl fell out of her carefully arranged up-do as she quietly giggled again. He realized that he was close when he could count the freckles dotting her nose.

He closed his eyes and slowly cocked his head. This was his first kiss with her- well, their first kiss rather- and he didn't want to mess it up. The night was going so perfectly.

"Beep-beep-bada-beep!" chirped Ulrich's mobile from his pants pocket. Ulrich silently cussed at himself for not turning it on to silent mode.

The girl pulled back and let him answer it. "Ulrich here," he said grumpily.

"Ulrich, there's another activated tower on LYOKO! Come to the factory right now!"  
Ulrich flipped over his wrist. It was near midnight. "I guess he doesn't wait for anyone, does he?"

Jeremie didn't respond right away. "Just get over here." Jeremie hung up first.

Ulrich got up to leave. "Wha- where are you going?" she looked as if she were about to cry.

"Um, I can't talk about it. Maybe later. Look, just nap here until I get back."

The girl got up off the bed quickly and stomped her petite feet. She was only five-foot-two compared to Ulrich's five-foot-seven, but that didn't mean her spirit was small.

Ulrich saw her freckled face scrunched up in anger. He felt bad about ditching her, so he ran back into the doorway and kissed her lightly without a fleeting glance.

She saw him running down the dormitory hallway and into the stairwell. "Bye, Ulrich!" she called out.

"Bye, Mariah!" he responded in the distance. Satisfied, she went back into the room and closed the door quietly.

**Chapter Forty-Five: Girl Down**

The entire gang arrived at the factory, ready to be devirtualized but still exhausted from the dance.

* * *

When the virtualization was completed, Jeremie informed them that he would get the vehicle to the forest to send them to sector-5 right away. "S-C-I-P-I-O…" he spelled out as he carefully typed in each letter. He pressed the "enter" key and said a happy, "Ta-da!" 

"Thanks for the lift, Jeremie, but where is EVE-10?" inquired Yumi.

Jeremie sighed. "He's doing one last run before I give him upgrades. I'm sending him to sector-5 as soon as he's done in the mountain region. Well, off you go!"

The she-elf, the cat-boy, the samurai, and the geisha were whisked away into the center of LYOKO, known as sector-5.

* * *

"Okay, you know the drill," Jeremie said dryly overhead. 

Odd didn't budge. "I'm sick of not being able to use vehicles here. Come on, Jeremie! Give us our stuff!"

"The clock is ticking…" Jeremie warned. "Fine, here you go," he relented while the vehicles appeared before their very eyes.

"Two minutes and forty-five seconds, guys! Hurry up!" And without another word, the teens zoomed into the all-blue world of sector-5.

* * *

"Oh, no…" Aelita moaned at what she saw. There were monsters everywhere, some she didn't even recognize. The button was on the other side of the large room. And to make matters worse, they were running out of time until the reconfiguration began. 

Yumi paid no attention to Aelita's worries. She blindly hurled one of her steel fans while trying to steady the over-wing. Two mantas were taken out with that shot alone.

When she caught that last fan, she threw her other one with her right hand. She kept on driving the over-wing with one hand.

As the over-wing progressed on down the line, Yumi never stopped her pace of throw a fan, catch a fan, throw the other fan, and catch the other fan. It worked quite well.

"Good work, Yumi, but we're going to have to move faster if we're going to make it to the key in time!" Jeremie tried not to sound panicked.

"We?" asked Aelita incredulously. "The last time…"

Yumi's concentration was broken. With a gasp she realized that she hadn't caught the last fan she threw.

The two girls screamed as the over-wing crashed into the side of one block. They were devirtualized instantly.

**Chapter Forty-Six: Much Needed Relief**

"Uh, Jeremie? What was that?" Odd perked up as he heard the screams of Yumi and Aelita. He couldn't look in that direction because he was focused on shooting the random collection of monsters on the edge of his board.

Ignoring him, Jeremie replied, "You two have only one minute until reconfiguration- and stop getting hit, Ulrich!"

Ulrich grunted as he tried to stab at the mega-tank. The monster opened up and began to charge before it shot Ulrich.

"You have only ten life points left! I guess it's up to Odd to push the little button…" Jeremie said. Ulrich wasn't paying any attention to him.

He was struggling because he was weak, and he chucked his sword with all the strength he could muster.

By a sheer miracle, Ulrich's sword had destroyed the mega-tank. Ulrich collapsed onto the hard ground.

"Thirty seconds! Ulrich get up! You still have ten points left!" Jeremie urged.

Odd zoomed as fast as he could past Ulrich and made a beeline towards the key.

"Ulrich! Get up!" Ulrich tried to lift his hand in response, but his muscles felt like stone.

"Fine, I get it. Ignore the hero of the day," Odd complained as he neared the key. "By the way, Jeremie, I'm not mad at you; so stop ignoring me already!" he groaned as he pushed the key in, two seconds before reconfiguration.

* * *

"Jeremie, how am I supposed to get this place deactivated if I don't have Aelita here to help me?" Odd asked as he raced towards the narrow exit. 

Jeremie was too busy trying figure out why Ulrich was down to give a precise answer. "I don't know," he said distractedly.

Odd groaned and narrowly made it past the last wall as it closed behind him. He caught his breath and heard some beeping noises behind him.

"I swear, if that's another monster," he growled as he pivoted to see where the noise was coming from.

Odd was surprised to see a sea-green haired youth who wore a golden toga over a brown shirt and matching brown pants. The youth, who had eyes to match his toga, smiled and opened his mouth. Two beeps came out.

"Jeremie, what's this?" Odd murmured while hardly moving a muscle.

Jeremie was always intrigued by new things that the gang found, so he stopped what he was previously doing and focused on Odd. On the screen there was a brown triangle.

"I do believe that's EVE-10. He's there to fix the computers." Odd stepped aside while the human-like robot whisked past and started working on the computer.

Chapter Forty-Seven: Focus

"Jeremie! What about Ulrich?" whined Yumi from behind Jeremie.

"We'll get him soon, don't worry about it!" Jeremie hissed. He turned to see Yumi's angry face and Aelita's no-nonsense frown. Jeremie let out a sigh. "Fine, I'll work on it, but I don't make any promises!"

Yumi groaned and paced the room behind Jeremie. Aelita laid a hand on Jeremie's shoulder. "Are you sure there isn't anything we can do?"

He nodded, but stopped midway. "Oh no, there's another activated tower in the ice sector. Didn't we just go there, EVE?"

Aelita heard a series of long and short beeps come from the computer. Jeremie didn't say anything but motioned to both girls to get in the scanners.

"On our way, Jeremie," Yumi said distractedly as she ran to the elevator. She couldn't lose Ulrich this easily.

**Chapter Forty-Eight: The Predicament**

"There you are ladies," Jeremie said quickly as he dropped off the over-wing in front of them. "And this time, let's not crash into anything, mm-kay?"

"Where's the tower, Jeremie?" Yumi looked around the peaceful white landscape, but there was neither a monster nor a tower in sight.

There was a pause. "South of here, but there shouldn't be any obstacles other than monsters. If you and Aelita hustle and don't wait for anything, Aelita can deactivate the tower and we can go back to the past. So let's go!"

Yumi went full throttle and headed south towards the activated tower.

* * *

"Odd, I'm sending the transport chamber to pick you and EVE-10 up. You guys are going to the mountain region and deactivating a tower there. Boy, XANA won't let us rest tonight!" Odd looked at EVE-10 and noticed he was still working avidly on the computers. 

"Uh, Jeremie, it looks like EVE doesn't want to stop working. And there's the vehicle!"  
"Just grab him and get on already!" Jeremie commanded. Some days, working the computers was like managing an army full of soldiers who couldn't think for themselves.

* * *

As soon as Odd and EVE were on the transport machine, he went back to finding Ulrich's problem.

* * *

Yumi noticed that they were far off from the tower, so she decided to start a conversation. "So, how are Jeremie and Odd getting along?" 

"Odd isn't mad at Jeremie, surprisingly," Aelita replied calmly.

"And what about you and Jeremie?"

There was a long pause. "Well, don't tell anyone, but he kissed me."

Jeremie interjected. "So what if I did? I love you Aelita!"

Aelita rolled her eyes and kept her thoughts to herself.

* * *

Odd heard Jeremie say that he loved Aelita. He was on his over-board with EVE-10 grabbing on to his shoulders firmly. The tower slipped his mind while he tried to grasp what he was saying. 

"You did what, Jeremie?"

"Odd? You can hear me?"

"Duh, Einstein. Well, what did you do that you love Aelita so much?"

Jeremie yelled across the mountain skies. "I kissed her! Is that so much a crime?"

"Yes! I know you love her, but there are other people who love her too!"

* * *

"Aelita, did you hear that? Odd just said he loved you!" 

Aelita clapped for joy. "Oh, Odd, I love you too!"

* * *

"Aelita?" Odd was confused as how he could suddenly hear the pink-haired girl and her companion. EVE-10 beeped excitedly and pointed at the tower in front of them. "Okay, we'll go there, hang on little buddy."

* * *

"He never said he loved you!" Jeremie defended himself. "He said that other people loved you." 

Aelita would have none of that. "Well, that kiss meant nothing to me."

"And if it came from Odd?"

Aelita stomped her foot in anger. "Jeremie, if anyone kissed me but you, I would enjoy it."

* * *

"What!" Odd was in shock, as if he hadn't heard it before. "He kissed you!" Then he got angry. "Aelita, if you love me, tell me that you didn't enjoy that kiss." 

"I didn't, Odd!" Aelita whined back. "I never wanted him to kiss me!"

Jeremie had another side to put out. "It seemed like she enjoyed it, at least to me."

Odd stopped his vehicle while EVE-10 got out in front of the tower and went in. They had gotten there early enough so no monsters were in front of the tower. "Aelita, don't break my heart."

Aelita began to cry as Yumi hurled her fans at the mantas that guarded the tower. "I love you, Odd. What more can I say to make you believe that?"

Odd didn't say anything and waited patiently for EVE-10 to deactivate the tower.

**Chapter Forty-Nine: The Girl with the Gun**

"Perfect timing," she giggled. She hitched up the skirt of her black dress and brushed her hair out of her face. She laughed quietly as she pulled the gun out of the holster on her right leg.

She sat back down on the stiff yet comfortable bed that was not her own. She laid back down on the bed with the gun at her side, ready for the next part of the mission.

_At 1:00 in the morning, she would begin._

_At 1:00 in the morning, XANA would win._

**Chapter Fifty: Back in the Factory**

Yumi hadn't lost any life points on the second round of the night. "Well, I'm glad we got the majority of the gang back." She was still angry that he couldn't get Ulrich back into her dimension. "Please tell me he's alright, Jeremie."

Jeremie shook his head. "He's nowhere on the map. I'm sorry, Yumi, but I'm sure we'll find him."

Yumi rubbed her temples. Perhaps she was being tested by the divine forces above, to see whether or not she loved him. Before she could ask to go back again, Odd and Aelita stepped out of the tower.

"Oh look! It's Einstein, but I guess we should call him Heartbreaker, huh?" Odd grumbled.

Aelita glared at Jeremie and stormed over to him. "Why did you do that, you monster!" she screamed as she tried to punch him.

Jeremie looked confused. "Me? I'll apologize for the kiss, but I won't apologize for my feelings."

"I don't love you!" she cried with tears streaming from her eyes. "I don't love you! Why can't you understand that?"

"But… the kiss…"

Odd interrupted them. "Aelita, it's me or him. Me- or him." He said 'him' with such loathing in his voice.

Aelita gave Jeremie such an evil look that even Yumi was afraid. "I love you, Odd. I don't tend to love overprotective jerks."

As she walked away, a shot rang through the room.

**Chapter Fifty-One: The Writing's on the Wall**

"What the hell was that?" Odd meekly responded to the unexpected noise.

Yumi wasn't afraid. "I do believe that was a gun shot. But where did it come from?" She searched the ceiling but could only see darkness with a few spots illuminated by the turquoise light of the computer.

Jeremie took off his headset. "I don't think we should stay here if it is an assassin. But of course I wouldn't be able to sleep," he tried to laugh to calm himself down.

"I'm not afraid," Aelita tried to muster up courage. "Let's go see what it is."

"Always taking one for the team," Yumi clicked gleefully. "I'm right behind you, girl!" The two ran off, Yumi in her typical outfit and Aelita in her pastel pink sundress, with Jeremie and Odd, who was still in his button-down shirt and loosened tie.

* * *

They went outside of the factory, figuring it would be safer outside to split up than to be fish in a barrel waiting for the next shot from inside the factory. As soon as they got out, Aelita turned around abruptly and gasped at what she saw. 

Graffiti, in blue and white paint, decorated the wall of the factory. It wasn't typical graffiti because it left a cryptic message:

**Die Lyoko Die**

**Smart at Two**

**Be Prepared**

**Die Lyoko Die**

Odd nodded. "That's an interesting poem."

"That's not a poem, Odd," Yumi replied thoughtfully.

"Whoever wrote this was probably our gun-wielder. It's got a double meaning, I bet."

Odd scratched his forehead and then chuckled. "I get it! This person wants to kill us!"

"Oh, that's a good one, Odd… I couldn't have figured that out myself," Jeremie said bitterly.

Aelita laughed. "This is easy. It means to meet at the academic building at two o'clock. I suppose this dueler has manners. But we need to be prepared," she said darkly. "This person obviously has better weapons than we can ever dream of."

Yumi cracked her knuckles on her chin. Odd rubbed his toe on the cement sidewalk. Jeremie shivered as he looked at the clock.

"Well, it's 1:45 right now. We don't have to go…" he muttered.

Aelita whispered, "Coward," and pivoted to take on the assassin at the school.

**Chapter Fifty-Two: Pitch Black**

Aelita pulled a bobby pin out of her hair and proceeded to unlock the academic building. Her pink dress was torn from the run from the factory to here, but neither that stumble nor the bloody knees faltered her.

The door opened with a soft creak and Aelita snuck in. It was so dark, so quiet, and so alone. _Is this what death felt like? _

She couldn't concentrate. The gunman could be anywhere. She stepped carefully, but her heels clacked too loudly for her liking. Slipping them off, she placed them in an alcove in front of Room 1.

She hurried back up and tried to compose herself. The hall was forever black… where was the gunman?

Behind her, a gust of cool air whipped across her bare shoulders. With nothing but goose-bumps on her arms and legs, she bravely ran into the dark, dark hallway.

What was she up against?

**Chapter Fifty-Three: In the Lion's Den**

Ulrich groaned; his muscles hadn't felt this heavy since his first training day at martial arts. Even if he couldn't move his muscles, he wanted to see his friends' faces.

He opened his eyes, but there was nothing but pitch black. His ears began to ring with the sound of nothingness. He did not feel hot or cold. He felt nothing, he couldn't think of anything except for searing pain. _Is this what death felt like?_

Ulrich mustered enough courage to look down at his body. He was lounging against a wall, his bottom half laying on an equally dark surface. It wasn't hard and it wasn't soft; it was as if he were sitting in oblivion. He dared not to move.

But he was frightened. He was in his LYOKO body, but without the samurai armor he was used to. His sword was nowhere in sight, as well as his clothes. Whoever undressed him, though, had the decency to leave on his boxers.

He looked straight ahead. Before him, a white spirit in the form of a woman he knew glided in from the darkness. He could only whisper, "Mom…"

She loomed over him with a peaceful smile on her face. Her eyes met his, and her face turned into a one of grotesque disgust. Her smile contorted into that of a lion's mouth: lots of pointed teeth in a large blood-red mouth. Her eyes had the intent of a shark that had just smelled blood. The soft white form turned into a giant human corpse, partially decomposed with insects feasting on the remaining flesh.

Ulrich mustered a scream and closed his eyes. He felt hot tears on his cheek- he had never been so afraid.

**Chapter Fifty-Four: Stairs**

She could hear someone's footsteps running underneath her. "Foolish child," she chuckled softly. "Nobody can outrun me!"

With her gun still in her right hand, she picked up the can of blue spray paint that lay by her feet. She tiptoe-ran to the stairs at the end of the hall. "Heh, this is too easy."

She heard the intruder softly coming up the stairs. After the fourteenth step, Mariah pushed down the top of the spray-can. However, nothing came out. "Shit…"

* * *

Aelita listened to the cursing. _A girl gunman!_ She ducked as the spray-can was chucked at her head. It ricocheted off the wall behind her and fell down the stairs. 

Aelita dared not to move. Obviously, this girl knew she was there, but the girl didn't know what happened to Aelita. Using this to her advantage, Aelita silently listened under the stairwell for the footsteps to disappear.

**Chapter Fifty-Five: The Void**

"It's okay, Ulrich, nothing's going to harm you," the voice cooed. "Nothing's going to harm you, open your eyes."

He opened his left eye. Sure enough, the horrific sight had vanished. He opened both eyes, but he was still afraid and tearing.

Perhaps he was still in oblivion, but this time, it was a red oblivion. His boxers had in fact disappeared this time and he wondered what had been going on.

The soft and womanly voice cooed. "Nothing's going to harm you," and Ulrich somehow believed this voice.

A gruff, manly voice overrode the woman's voice. "Hello, Ulrich Stern. Welcome to the Void." After a pause, the voice continued. "I am here to keep you… safe."

Ulrich's muscles still felt heavy and he couldn't make any gestures. His only option was to stay still.

"The Void is where you will stay… as a hostage… until the… demands… are met."

"What demands?" Ulrich squeaked.

The voice didn't change his stupor. "Your friends for your life."

Ulrich's eyes grew wide. "Don't… don't you dare… hurt… them," he breathily answered.

The voice grew intense. "Too late. After tonight, you will be free. Mariah won't let me down."

**Chapter Fifty-Six: Ms. Hertz's Room**

The girl wasn't very smart, Aelita deduced as she ran down the second-story hall of the dark academic building. The door was open to the room where she was in. Aelita wasted no time in going into Ms. Hertz's science classroom.

The room seemed empty, but she could sense that she was in there. The door banged shut behind her, causing her to jump and gasp.

With that vocal, Aelita was suddenly the target of two gun shots from across the room. She wasn't hit, but the door was.

Aelita dropped down on her hands and knees and crawled underneath the lab tables quickly. _This is hopeless_, she thought. _No matter what, she can shoot me. Maybe she is smarter than I take her for._

Aelita turned around and crawled back to the door. But as she was reaching for the round, silver doorknob, the door opened.

* * *

Another shot fired from across the room. Aelita ducked, but the bullet landed in the door. Aelita looked at the partially opened door and noticed a figure staggering for a bit before falling on the ground. 

Aelita darted out of the room and went to the figure's side. In the dark, she couldn't see exactly who he (or she) was. She found the shoulders and put her head down on the person's chest to see if they were still breathing.

"Girl, I'm not dead yet!" Odd laughed quietly.

"Oh, Odd! Are you hurt?" A gun-shot interrupted them.

Odd got up quickly and whispered to Aelita. "No, but we need to get you out before you get hurt yourself!" He grabbed her wrist, but she pulled it away.

"Where are the others?"

"They're coming- now come on!" He held her hand and they ran to the opposite end of the hall.

**Chapter Fifty-Seven: Shatter**

Mariah was angry. How could have the girl avoided all of her shots? "No one escapes me that easily," she grumbled as she jumped from her position on top of one of the large cabinets in the back corner of the room.

"Not so fast," a young woman's voice disrupted her escape. "You can't kill off LYOKO that easily."

Mariah ducked under the nearest lab table. "Wanna bet?" She reached around the table and fired a shot at where she thought the voice came from.

"You're aim sucks, did you know that?" the voice laughed. Mariah reloaded her gun nervously. "Why don't you come out and fight me like a real warrior?"

Mariah couldn't resist a challenge. "All right then, I will." She stood up to meet her match.

All she could see in the shadows was the menacing eyes and the gleam of the trigger. Mariah became afraid. "Where did you get that gun, shadow girl?"

"My mom has one in case there's a burglar," she smugly replied. She wasn't backing down anytime soon. "And please, call me Yumi."

Mariah jumped on top of the lab table and fired two shots at Yumi. She flipped onto the table in front of her and landed perfectly. To her surprise, Yumi hadn't faltered from her position.

"Nice landing for someone in high-heeled shoes, but again, you suck at shooting me!"

Mariah cursed under her breath as she barely dodged the bullets fired from Yumi's gun. "You're not much better."

"Am I?" the devious smile illuminated. As if in slow motion, Mariah saw the barrel of the gun and heard the shot and felt the pain searing through her leg.

She screamed and fell off the table with a loud crack. All she saw was her face reflected in a boy's glasses before he slit her throat slowly with a broken beaker.

**Chapter Fifty-Eight: This isn't the End**

"Let him go!" The white light appeared from the left side of the room. Ulrich watched in breathless silence as the white overcame the red. "I said, let him go!"

The voice in the red responded calmly, "If the friends are dead…"

"Your assassin is dead!" the white light's voice boomed. "Let him go!"

Ulrich was confused, but he dared not to argue. He didn't want to end up in the black oblivion. Being in the Void was bad enough.

"I'll let him go over my dead body!"

The white light stopped, as if confused. "XANA, you don't have a body."

Ulrich gasped. Everything was making sense to him finally.

"I'll take the boy and leave quietly." The red light fumed and little sparks emitted from it.

"Fine, go. You've won the battle, but you haven't won the war!" The red light vanished and suddenly, Ulrich was surrounded by the white light.

Here there was no more pain.

* * *

**Please find out what happens next in Legacy of Lyoko: II: In Our Darkest Hour. Thank you for reading the first part! Happy Reading! **


End file.
